Music To My Ears
by BlueDragonofHappiness
Summary: Kyo the Sound Dragon Slayer fits in well with Fairy Tail; she's quirky, short tempered, and protective of her guild. When Black Steel Gajeel enters the picture, she's torn between dedication and desire. GajeelxOC Rated for language and violent and (minor) sexual themes. *FIRST CHAPTER REWRITTEN 20/10/14*
1. Kyokuko Returns

**I reuploaded this first chapter; I took notice to how many views I lost when I had the OC breakdown, so I just added her appearance details into this chapter. I hope more of you stick around for more to come!**

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><p>It was any other day at Fairy Tail; Natsu and Gray were arguing about something that shouldn't have become an argument as Lucy sat at the bar, talking to Mirajane. Erza was off to the side enjoying a slice of cake, Cana was drinking her weight in alcohol, and – as usual – Nab was staring at the request board despite the fact that he never really goes on missions. As everyone was doing their own, usual thing no one had taken much notice to the guild hall's door's opening. Well, everyone apart from a keen-eyed cat.<p>

"Kyo! 'Nata!" Happy cheered, flying towards the two that entered the hall. At the exclamation of those names, Natsu and Gray stopped their argument to turn their heads to the door. Erza even looked up from her cake with a smile on her face.

Standing at the door of the guild hall was Kyokuko, whom Happy and the others of the guild affectionately refer to as Kyo; she was tall with toned arms, displayed by her leather, studded vest. Underneath the vest was a simple charcoal tank top that clung to her body. Dark jeans hugged her large hips and the legs were kept inside her leather boots, studded just like her vest. Her messy black hair hung just above her shoulders. Contrasting her pale skin was a black Fairy Tail guild stamp high up on the right side of her neck, just below her jawline. Similarly, her left arm was covered in a black dragon tattoo that stretched from shoulder to wrist, coiling around her arm. The opposite arm was adorned with an assortment of bracelets: leather cuffs with studs, gunmetal chains, and a thin, woven leather bracelet that wrapped around multiple times. On her right arm's ring finger was a simple gunmetal ring with an onyx stone.

Flying at her side was her Exceed companion, Sonata. She was primarily white, with black accents on her snout, ears, paws, and tip of her tail. Large blue eyes and a delicate pink nose and paw pads added to her cute factor. The small cat wore a hakama; the pants were black whereas the top was white. Strapped to her back was a small flute. Her wings were the same colour as her fur accents.

Kyokuko pushed her aviators up to let them rest on top of her head before smiling at the flying, blue cat. Her bright blue eyes shined with happiness. "Yo, Happy! What's up? Miss us?" Her smile turned into a grin as Happy let out a cheerful _aye! _From behind the cat, she saw her fellow Dragon Slayer run towards her with his usual smile on his face. The two of them knocked their forearms together as a greeting.

"Nice seeing you again, Kyo!" Natsu grinned at his friend, lowering his arm. "How was your break from missions?"

She shrugged. "Touring was pretty fun, but I missed it here at Fairy Tail," Kyokuko replied, pushing wisps of hair behind her ears, displaying her piercings: a gunmetal cuff along her helix as well as two black studs and a gunmetal loop on her lobe.

"Sonata has missed you very much, Natsu-dono, and your eccentric ways. _Nya_," Kyokuko's companion said sweetly with a bow.

Picking up the black and white cat in his arms, Natsu grinned from ear to ear and hugged her. "Aw, I missed you too, 'Nata! You're the only one who respects me."

"Natsu-dono is strong and kind," she smiled as her tail twitched happily. "Therefore, Natsu-dono deserves Sonata's respect, _nya._"

"Always with the third person, Sonata," Kyokuko chuckled, ruffling the fur on her head. "It sounds so silly."

"Sonata apologizes for her misbehaviour, Kyokuko-dono!" the cat cried as she flew out of Natsu's grasp. Floating in front of her companion, her eyes became teary and she bowed. "Please, forgive Sonata… _Nya…_"

The Sound Dragon Slayer chuckled and patted the top of the Exceed's head. "'salright, Sonata. You wouldn't be you if I made you change your speech patterns."

"Sonata is very grateful for Kyokuko-dono's generosity! _Nya!_" she shouted, deepening her bow.

"'Nata!" Happy cheered as he flew over to hover beside his friend. "Stop apologizing and eat some fish with me!"

At the sound of the word _fish_, Sonata's black-tipped ears perked up in excitement. "Sonata loves delicious fish! Let us feast, Happy-san! _Nyaaaa~_"

"Aye!"

And with that, the two Exceeds flew off.

"Aw, she said a sentence in the first person," Kyokuko smiled. "I'm so proud."

Lucy, who was observing, finally stepped forward. "Natsu, who is this? Could you introduce me?"

"Oh right," Natsu bonked his forehead with the palm of his hand softly. "Lucy, this is –"

"Name's Kyokuko, but you can call me Kyo," she winked at Lucy. "I'm a member of Fairy Tail and Sound Dragon Slayer extraordinaire!" Kyokuko extended her hand to shake the blonde's. "And you're Lucy right? I heard about the new Celestial Wizard in Fairy Tail's ranks. I've never met one before, so I've been looking forward to meeting you and seeing what you've got."

Lucy took Kyokuko's hand and shook it with a smile. "It's nice to meet you, Kyo. So, you're a Dragon Slayer just like Natsu?"

"Mhmm. But for the past few months, I've been touring Fiore as a musician. Thought it'd be a sweet gig, but I missed this place. It's awesome to finally be back home."

"It's good to see your safe return," Erza called out as she approached, having finished off her cake as she and Natsu caught up.

Kyokuko merely shrugged in response. "'snot like I was out fighting off demons. Just groupies. A lot less dangerous."

"Still, it's good to see you back," the red-head smiled.

"Yeah, welcome home, Kyo," Gray chimed in, joining the group.

"Your clothes, Gray!" Lucy shrieked.

"Damn this bad habit!" he shouted back as he took notice to his nakedness.

Kyokuko pressed her hands to her cheeks and sighed dreamily. "Oh, how I've missed those perfect pecs…," she smiled to herself.

While Gray let out an audible groan, Lucy's eyebrow cocked up in confusion from that statement. "Are you two…going out…?"

"Kyo has a thing for muscles, a wandering eye, and no self-restraint," Erza answered Lucy's question as Kyokuko attempted to stop Gray from putting his clothes back on.

"Aw, come on Gray! Let me look a bit longer," she whined as she tried to pull his shirt out of his grasp.

"No way, you weirdo!" Gray shouted back as he tugged back on his clothes, a small blush on his cheeks. "Give me back my shirt!"

"Is she like this with everyone?" Lucy asked, leaning towards Erza.

"She's a little more forward with Fairy Tail members, because she thinks she can get away with it," Erza chuckled.

"Fine, take your stupid shirt back," Kyokuko pouted. When she suddenly released her tight grip on the shirt, it sent Gray flying backwards. She crossed her arms and turned away. "So rude. Won't even let me appreciate his hot body after being gone for so long. No wonder you don't have a girlfriend. You don't know how to please a woman."

"Shut up, Kyo!" Gray growled as he popped his head through the hole in his shirt. "You're not entitled to anything!"

"At least I still have Natsu's lovely abs to look at," she said dreamily, pressing her hands against her cheeks again. "What a gentleman; always wearing that open vest so I can speak a peek whenever I want." She sighed happily, glancing at the pink-haired Dragon Slayer.

Natsu folded his arms over his chest and blushed slightly. "I forgot how weird you are…," he looked away from her in embarrassment. "And it's not like I do this for you! It's just comfy!" Natsu's head snapped back around to shout at Kyokuko after registering what she said.

Lucy, Erza, and Kyokuko laughed at Natsu's nervous reaction and his red cheeks.

"Now that I'm done harassing the boys, what have I missed since I've been gone? Other than this cutie joining and trying to steal the title of "Fairy Tail's Hottest Girl"." Lucy's eyebrows cocked up again and she turned to look at Erza for another explination. Kyokuko just laughed. "Don't you worry; I don't swing for the other team. My heart is devoted to sexy men, like Natsu and Gray –"

The two men blushed and glared at her. "_Shut up, Kyo!_"

"- but I know a pretty girl when I see one. To be honest, I'm kinda jealous. I wish I had your looks, Lucy. Then the men would be all over me." She sighed and then pouted. "And so would their lovely muscles…"

"No, you're good looking too, Kyo!" Lucy smiled reassuringly. It was the truth too; she genuinely thought Kyokuko was pretty – albeit strange.

"Yeah. The only reason men don't approach you is because you make them uncomfortable with your muscle gawking," Gray added, rolling his eyes.

Erza took notice to something, and changed the subject. "I just noticed…," she began softly.

"Hmm?"

"Your chest," she pointed at Kyokuko. "It's not wrapped up like usual."

All at once, the group turned to look at Kyokuko's chest. "Yeah. I wasn't fighting, so they weren't getting in the way. Wrapping them is time consuming, not to mention constricting, so if I don't have to I won't do it, ya feel me?"

"Woah, Kyo!" Natsu gasped. "You're stacked!"

Lucy balled up a fist and hit Natsu atop his head. "Don't say stuff like that, you pig."

"But Kyo says stuff like that to us all the time," Natsu whined as he rubbed the spot Lucy punched. "It's a double-standard…"

"Oh, is the man uncomfortable by the sexual comments?" Erza smirked. "How _awful_." Erza and Lucy exchanged a high-five while chuckling.

"You really think they're nice? Then I guess it's a shame I always bind them up," Kyokuko started, not fazed by Natsu's comment. "You boys do so much for me – with your open vests and your lovely stripping – I should allow you to gaze upon my true, womanly form in all its glory."

"Someone's modest," Gray folded his arms across his chest as he rolled his eyes.

"Is _no one_ in this guild normal?" Lucy sighed.

"Anyway to switch the subject back to what the main discussion was," Erza intervened again. "To answer your question, Natsu, Gray, Lucy and I formed a team."

"Don't forget about me!" Happy whined as he flew back to the group, Sonata behind him. "You guys always forget about me!"

Kyokuko's jaw dropped. "No _way_!" Natsu and Gray? Working _together_? Erza too?" The group nodded. "Man, I want in on this! Sounds sweet!"

"You're more than welcome to join us," Erza said as she smiled at the leather-clad Dragon Slayer.

"Hell yeah!" Kyokuko pumped a fist in the air. "You hear that, Sonata? We're officially on a team!"

"_Nya~_ Sonata is overwhelmed with excitement!"

Natsu glanced over at Gray. "You know what this means, right?"

He frowned, nodded at the Fire Dragon Slayer. "We're going to have to deal with her _every damn day_."

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><p><strong>Short introductory chapter. I realized after I started writing Kyokuko's character that she acts a like like Gou from Free!... Well, in regards to the muscles. I really enjoyed writing the rest of Kyo's personality – especially looking forward to her more aggressive side – and I'm looking forward to expanding her and Sonata (and also her chemistry with Gajeel). No musical inspiration in his chapter. Constructive criticism is always appreciated! Be sure to let me know if you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews help keep me motivated!<strong>


	2. The Phantom Lord

Kyokuko stretched as she walked through the streets of Magnolia alongside her new teammates. Sonata was asleep on her head. "You guys sure don't mess around," she said with a sigh, folding her hands behind her head. "I mean…it's like you guys bring more trouble than you seek to solve."

"Tell me about it…," Lucy sighed. "I took this small paying job since I knew I could do it on my own and you guys had to tag along and ruin it. Oh, not you Kyo. I mean _them_." Lucy glared at her guild mates as she clutched a shivering Plue to her chest.

"I didn't even get to do anything," Kyo frowned. "I mean, shit hit the fan so quickly, I didn't even _want_ to get involved."

Lucy sighed and shook her head. "And the damage they caused cost way more than the reward, so _I didn't even get anything_," she cried, squeezing Plue even tighter. "How am I going to pay my rent?"

"I know what you mean… I missed Fairy Hills but god damn is the rent steep. Even if I wanted to find a new place, I still don't have any Jewels to pay for it," the Dragon Slayer replied with a frown. She leaned in closer to Lucy and whispered in her ear. "Let's find a job and go together without telling them. That way nothing will get destroyed and we'll both get some rent money."

Chuckling, Lucy replied "What do you think I tried to do with this one? Natsu just always finds me before I can leave." The young, blonde turned to look at her other teammates. "Why _did_ you guys tag along anyway?"

"Well, _duh_," Natsu grinned, his hands comfortably folded behind his head. "We're Fairy Tail's _strongest team_! We need to stick together, no matter what!" An assortment of agreeing replies came from Happy, Gray, Erza, and even Lucy, who smiled at Natsu's reasoning.

Kyokuko shook her head and eyed the rest of her team from the corner of her eye. "Seems like overkill for such an easy job with such little pay. How do you expect Lucy to find her inner strength when you carry her through everything?"

"Kyo…," Lucy said softly, smiling to herself. They hadn't known each other more than a week or so, and yet she was so supportive of her. It was like having a big sister who just wanted her best interests in mind.

"Not to be rude Lucy, but you're still fairly new and you need as much experience as you can get," she continued, lowering her hands from their position behind her head. "And from what I've seen from this mission, with these crazies around, the only thing you _can_ do is hide and try not to be hit in the crossfire."

This time, Erza was the one to step in. "With all due respect, Kyo," she began. "We _are_ a team and we protect each other. Lucy needn't fight if we are here."

"I know this sounds weird coming from _me_ of all people, but you three need to learn how to restrain yourselves. Do you _really_ not see all the trouble you cause your teammate and the guild itself? Lucy receives little to no experience from these missions; I've seen what happens. She sits on the sidelines and then returns home - probably to be mocked behind her back on what little difference she makes. That's not fair to Lucy. I can see she wants to help. She wants to hold her own weight. She wants to be the best wizard she can be. But you three are just not giving her the opportunity." Kyokuko had surprised the others by how strict and serious she sounded. Erza's lips thinned; though she was always considered physically stronger, Erza always respected Kyokuko as her elder, upper guild mate. It bothered her to see someone she always saw as so carefree reprimand her and her friends. She couldn't even be angry about it, since it was all warranted. Lucy had happy tears welling in her eyes. She was so grateful that someone was speaking on her behalf; that someone _didn't_ think she was useless. Natsu and Gray looked at each other with solemn expressions as their friend continued her lecture. "Do you have _any_ idea how many whisperings I've heard during my touring of how you guys are just more trouble than what you're worth? The reputation you've been giving _my _guild? It's disgraceful. You hold the title of Fairy Tail wizards with such pride, and yet all of your actions bring shame to it. You want to help people? Try not to destroy everything in the process." With a growl, Kyokuko quickened her pace to walk ahead of her team.

"Kyo…," Natsu whispered to himself, watching one of his closest and dearest friends walk away in anger.

"She's full of piss and vinegar today," Gray stated, a sad tone in his voice. "I guess she's right though…"

"I know we can take things a bit too far…," Erza began, looking down at her boots. "But are we really tarnishing the name of the guild we care for so much?"

Natsu didn't say anything else. He just looked down at his hands. He had disappointed her…

As they continued walking silently, Natsu sadly stared at the ground. That is, until he bumped into Kyokuko, who had abruptly stopped in front of him. "Kyo? What gives?"

He saw her shoulders shaking in anger. "Who did this?" he heard her growl.

Looking up, Team Natsu froze in shock when they saw what Kyokuko was referring to. The Fairy Tail guild was destroyed; vandalized with iron bars sticking out in every direction.

"What is this…?" Lucy whispered.

"Sonata," Kyokuko said sharply, waking up the sleeping cat on her head.

"_Nya?_" she replied, rubbing her eyes.

"Hold on tight. _Sound Dragon Secret Art: Speed of Sound._" And in a flash, she disappeared.

"Kyo, wait up!" Natsu growled, chasing after her. _Damn that Speed of Sound bullshit, _he internally hissed.

Kyo stood at the base of the mutilated guild hall almost instantly. The close distance made it so little of her magic energy was used. Glaring up at the destruction, her dragon-like fangs were bared as she growled menacingly. "When I find out who did this, there _will_ be hell to pay…" Her home… She would have preferred it completely torn down rather than put on display like this. She sniffed the air, trying to catch a familiar scent. It wasn't a familiar scent in the sense that she knew who it was, but it had a similar smell to her and Natsu. It must be another Dragon Slayer.

"Sonata understands that Kyokuko-dono is angry, but you must calm down before-"

"I'll _kill them_!"

"Kyokuko-dono, please," Sonata cried, holding onto Kyo's leg. "Do not yell… It won't solve anything…"

Letting out a deep sigh, Kyokuko looked down at her faithful companion. Bending down, she lifted Sonata and held her in her arms. "I'm sorry, Sonata. I forgot how much it upsets you."

"Sonata hates seeing Kyokuko-dono in such a state…"

Heightened Sound Dragon ears could hear footsteps approaching at a quick speed. "You may want to cover your ears, Sonata. Natsu's coming and he'll be just as loud."

"Oh no…" she whispered, quickly pressing her ears down with her paws.

A few moments later, Natsu and the rest of the team stood behind Kyokuko, staring in shock at the wreckage.

"Our guild…," Natsu growled, his fists already clenched in anger. "Who had the balls to do this to our guild?"

"It…it was Phantom…," a weak sounding voice answered. Everyone turned to face the source of the voice and saw a solemn looking Mirajane. "We…we couldn't do anything to stop them… They destroyed everything…" As Mirajane buried her face into her hands to let out a sob, Kyokuko's eyes furrowed. The name Phantom Lord made her blood boil and had she not been holding onto her cat she would have clenched her fists just like Natsu.

"Bastards," Gray hissed. "What the fuck do they think gives them the right to do this?"

"I'll kill them," Kyokuko said, grinding her teeth together. Sonata still had her ears covered and looked up at Kyokuko's frightening expression with tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "I'll kill every last one of them…"

"Please, calm down," Mirajane said softly, placing her hand on Kyo's shoulder. "I know how you're feeling, but please. Don't do anything so rash." Using her other hand, Mira wiped tears forming in her eyes. "Conflict between the guilds is –"

"Screw that, Mira," Natsu growled. "_This_ means war."

"Please," she repeated. "Come with me."

The team followed Mirajane down the staircase into the Fariy Tail basement. The sight made Kyokuko's stomach churn. The usual energy and positivity was lost. All there was left to her guild mates were empty shells of the people they once were – sullen and full of grief. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from yelling. Taking a deep breath, she continued to follow Mira to where Master Makarov was sitting, a beer mug in his hands.

"Hey kids. Welcome back," he slurred. It didn't take a Dragon Slayer nose to smell the heavy alcohol on him. Kyokuko looked down sadly at her master. She could tell that he wasn't taking this situation well.

"I just don't get it," Natsu growled. "Why are you all cooped up in here when these assholes need to be taught a lesson?"

"Natsu," Kyokuko harshly in an attempt to interrupt him, but it didn't help. Natsu continued on.

"What gives, Master? You're going to let them get away with this? The guild hall is completely destroyed!"

"Like I care about that. They're weaklings. Doing this when no one was even here," Makarov took another swig of his alcohol and wiped his mouth. "How is that even worth bragging about?"

"No one was here?" Lucy repeated.

Mirajane nodded sullenly. "They attacked after everyone left to go home…"

"Cowards," Kyokuko growled. Sonata trembled in her arms, afraid of her companion's anger. She still had her paws firmly pressed to her ears with tears now streaming down her face. "Fucking chicken shits."

"Just forget about them," the master said, followed by a drunken hiccup. "If they don't even have the guts to fight us face to face, they're just a waste of time."

Natsu's fist smashed the wall to his right. "I'm not letting them trash our place and get away with it!"

"You know, you can help by _not_ smashing the wall right?" the Sound Dragon Slayer rolled her eyes, placed her frightened friend on the ground next to Happy, and crossed her arms. "But I agree with Natsu. If we let this go without punishment, they'll think they have the right to walk all over us."

"But conflict between the guilds is –"

"Mirajane," Kyokuko said sharply, cutting her off. Her harsh voice caused the white-haired girl to flinch. "To be honest, I don't give a _fuck_ what the Magic Counsel says is forbidden or not. This was an attack. And fighting back is a measure of self defense. I will _not_ let these Phantom Lord punks think they can get away with this."

"Kyokuko," Master Makarov said sternly, despite his drunken state. "You will _not_ engage with Phantom Lord."

"Master, with all due respect, I get that this whole _drinking your face off_ thing is a matter of coping with how angry you are about this situation. This is _my_ way of coping." The angry Dragon Slayer turned on her heels and made her way towards the staircase.

"Kyokuko," he repeated, furrowing his brow. "If you disobey me, you're out of the guild."

She stopped and turned her head over her shoulder to glare at him. "What's the point of being in a guild if we don't stand up for ourselves?"

The two of them locked eyes for a few moments before Makarov sighed. "Just don't kill anyone."

"I make no promises. _Sound Dragon Secret Art: Speed of Sound_."

And in an instant, she vanished once more, leaving her teammates behind.

"Kyokuko-dono…," Sonata said sadly, finally letting go of her ears. "Please, be careful…"

"You don't need to worry about her, 'Nata," Natsu told her, still staring at the spot that Kyokuko was standing at moments before. "They unleashed the wrath of her inner dragon. They're the ones who better be careful."

"'Nata, stay with us until Kyo gets back," Happy said with a smile, placing his paw on her shoulder. "Sleepover time at Lucy's!"

"Wait, what?" Lucy screamed. "You can't just invite yourself over!"

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><p>It didn't take long for Kyokuko to arrive in Oak Town. The day was still young so she had plenty of time. But she felt tired from the extended use of her secret art magic. <em>First things first<em>, she thought to herself as she stepped into a small clothing store. _I'll need to hide this stamp._ Grabbing the first scarf she saw, she turned around and threw the Jewel on the counter. "Keep the change," she said as she walked out of the store.

"Well, it's not black," she said to herself as she walked through the streets of Oak Town. She tied the deep red scarf around her neck to completely hide her Fairy Tail guild stamp. "But it'll do the job. Now I just need to find somewhere to recuperate." She requipped her aviator sunglasses onto her face and continued to walk down the road of shops, keeping her eye open for a nice spot. In the distance, on top of the large hill, she could see her final destination – the Phantom Lord guild hall. Seeing it made her blood boil, but she knew that she had to get some strength back before she could do anything. Distracting her from her rage, Kyokuko could hear the sound of a piano. She turned her head to see a quaint café with a live jazz band and smiled to herself. Just what she needed.

Kyokuko wasted no time walking into the café; she took a seat right in front of the small stage area. Her left elbow propped up on the table so she could rest her head against her fist. Closing her eyes, she smiled listening to the band. _Ah, that lovely saxophone echo…_ she thought to herself when a saxophone followed the trumpet's bar.

"Good afternoon miss," a young waitress appeared next to Kyokuko's table with a pad of paper and a pencil. "Can I get you anything?"

Lifting her head off her fist and pushing her glasses up to rest on top of her head, she turned to the waitress. "An espresso and…," Kyokuko glanced over to the counter where the pastries were. "Two of those cream puff pastries."

"Right away, miss."

Kyokuko went back to leaning against her hand as she listened to the jazz band. She was already starting to feel better, especially since she was sitting right in front of the powerful trumpet. She thanked and paid the waitress when she returned with her order just as the band switched to a more upbeat song. The rush of musical energy mixed with the caffeine in her espresso instantly energized her. After finishing her drink and pastries, she used her free hand to tap against the table to the music. _This is the life_, she smiled to herself. _I should check if Magnolia has a place like this._

However, her tranquility was interrupted by a cackle. "Heh, did you hear what they did to Fairy Tail last night?"

Kyokuko's eyes narrowed as she glanced at the two men who were leaving the café. She saw the Phantom Lord symbol on their arms. Slipping her glasses back down the bridge of her nose, she stood up from her table, making sure to toss some tips into the instrument cases before she left, and followed behind them; she was able to keep a decent amount of distance thanks to her Sound Dragon hearing.

"Yeah, they totally trashed the place," she heard the other man chuckle. "Serves them right. Cocky pricks."

Kyokuko clenched her fists as she followed behind them. _It's going to be great kicking the ever loving shit out of them_…

She followed them into a dark alley; the whole time they were poking fun at Fairy Tail, making Kyokuko even angrier with the guild. She could feel herself starting to lose control to the dragon inside with every stab at her guild. Once she knew no one would see her, she sprang into action.

"Excuse me, boys," she said, catching their attention and making them turn around. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're from Phantom Lord, right?"

The two men turned around to see her, glanced at each other, and smirked.

"That we are, sweet thing," one of them said.

"Maybe you could answer a few questions for me."

"Sure thing, babe," the other smirked.

"_Sound Dragon: Sonic Boom_," she said, walking towards the men.

"What did you sa-"

One of the men was sent flying back into a dumpster by a blast of sound waves Kyokuko shot out of her hand. Before the other could react, he was pinned against a wall. One of Kyokuko's hands held his arms twisted behind his back and the other smashed his face into the wall.

"So this can go one of two ways," she growled at the man she was restraining as she twisted his arm further, causing him to scream. "You can be a good little boy and tell me what I need to know, or…" The hand that had pushed his head into the wall had claws extend from her usually short nails. It tightened around his neck, the claws digging slightly into his skin. "I make you an example to your guild."

"Wh-what do you want…?" he stammered, looking up at her blue eyes, pupils narrow in anger.

"Tell me everything you know about what happened to Fairy Tail."

"A-a couple of guys went there to trash the guild. I don't know who though I just –" The man was cut off by Kyokuko squeezing his throat tightly until he ran out of air and passed out.

She turned to the man lying next to the dumpster who was starting to wake up, and walked to him. "Tell me what I need to know," she growled, placing her foot on his throat.

"W-we're lower ranked… We don't know anything abo-" She stamped down on his throat until he too fell unconscious. Grabbing both men by the back of their shirts, she dragged their unconscious bodies to the Phantom Lord guild hall. Thanks to her Speed of Sound, she got their quickly, and then she kicked in the door.

"Knock knock," she said as everyone in the guild hall stared at her. She threw the two unconscious bodies down in front of her. "Special delivery." She heard whisperings around her, questioning who she was. "Let me get to the point," she shouted out so that the hall could hear her. Once she had their attention, she pulled off her scarf, revealing her guild stamp. "You guys are going to answer my questions."

"A fairy?" someone hissed. "Why would we tell you –"

Using Speed of Sound, Kyokuko rushed the man talking and held him up against the wall by his throat. The wall cracked slightly from the force of the impact. "So you can keep your life," she growled at the man, answering the obvious question he didn't get to finish. She could hear the wizards around her start to move, probably to attack. She took in a deep breath. "_Sound Dragon: Banshee Shriek!_" A shrill scream escaped her mouth, causing the whole guild hall to screech in pain.

"Why can't I move?" someone shouted in fear.

"The effects will wear off soon enough," she answered. Still gripping onto the man's throat, she looked over her shoulder to examine the guild hall. "So let me explain to you the situation right now," she addressed all the members. "You're all currently paralyzed and can't do anything to protect yourselves against a pissed off Dragon Slayer. And if you guys get me any angrier, I can't promise I'll be able to control the dragon inside me." She turned back towards the man she still had held against the wall, claws extending once more to dig into his throat. "So, are you going to cooperate?"

"What do you want?" he replied, trying to hide his fear. If this girl was even half as scary as Gajeel, they were all fucked.

"Answers," she replied with a shrug. "I just want to know: which one of you was stupid enough to attack my guild hall?"

"That would be Gajeel," he told her. Normally he wouldn't be so cooperative; he was just scared for his life and wanted to make sure he didn't give her a reason to kill him. He could see her reptile-like eyes were filled with anger. One wrong move, and the whole guild might be in danger; a part of him prayed Gajeel would walk through the door at any moment to come to their rescue but he knew that wasn't going to happen. "He's not here right now; pretty sure he's still hanging around Magnolia."

"Hmm. Is this guy the Dragon Slayer I smelled?" The man she was holding onto didn't answer, so she squeezed his throat slightly. "Did I stutter?"

"Yeah," he coughed as she loosened the grip on his throat. "He's the Iron Dragon Slayer: Black Steel Gajeel."

Kyokuko let go of her victim and he crashed to the floor. "Thanks for being so helpful," she said, tapping the top of his head like he was a child who helped his mother with chores around the house. "Tell this _Black Steel Gajeel_ that Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer is going to hunt him down and rip out his throat."

"You'll _never_ beat Gajeel!" someone shouted. "He'll kill you, and then he'll kill all you stupid fairies!"

Kyokuko's head snapped towards the sound of the voice. The sudden movement coupled with the anger in her eyes made some of Phantom Lord's wizards flinch. "Who said that?" she asked, casually walking over to the source. When no one replied, she growled. "I said _who said that_?"

"I did!" a man frozen in place from her Banshee Shriek shouted. "And I'll say it again. Gajeel is going to kill _all of you_!"

Kyokuko smirked and walked towards the man who lashed out at her. "So you like to talk big, huh?" she asked with a chuckle, scratching her claw against the man's neck. "You Phantom Lord trash really are idiots." Cupping the man's chin, she brought it up so that the man could look into her eyes; the angry dragon-like irises that would strike fear into the hearts of many. "Do I _look_ like someone you want to mess with, punk?" The man glared at her and spat in her face. Without any hesitation, Kyokuko used her claws to rip out the man's throat. The other Phantom Lord members gasped in shock as they watched helplessly as their guild mate let out a death rattle before collapsing to the ground. _Yup_, she thought to herself, wiping off the spit on her face. _They **are **idiots._

She turned her head to look at the guild hall; shocked and frightened face greeted her. "Anyone else have something to say?" Silence followed. "Good." She dragged the dead body to the back wall of the guild hall, and dipped her fingers in the open wound, covering them with blood. On the wall she wrote:

_Black Steel Gajeel,_

_You've messed with the wrong guild. When I get my hands on you, I'll show you what happens when you piss off a real Dragon._

_Kyo, Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer_

Under the note on the wall, she drew the Fairy Tail emblem in the same blood.

"Thanks for your help guys," she smirked, walking towards the door. "If you guys get any more bright ideas, I'll be back. I promise."

* * *

><p><strong>Music inspiration<strong>

**Songs played in the café: **_**L.A. Noire Main Theme**_** and **_**The Trouble With Me Is You**_

**Song inspiring the Phantom Lord scene: **_**Destroya**_** (as an aside, I'm really annoyed this was featured in Maze Runner… I only found out when I added the song to the playlist -_-)**

**You can find a link to the YouTube playlist on my profile. And as always, reviews are appreciated. They keep be motivated to continue writing :)**


	3. At Fault

**Had a bit of difficulty writing this chapter. I have a bunch of stuff written for this story during the Phantom Lord arc, but this part just stumped me…**

* * *

><p>Gajeel arrived that night after doing a bit of extra damage to Fairy Tail's pride. He chuckled all the way back to the guild hall, imagining the looks on their dumb faces when they see the present he left for them in the park. He couldn't wait to just get back to Phantom Lord and celebrate with a nice meal of scrap metal.<p>

As he opened the door to his guild, his smirk quickly vanished and was replaced by a scowl. He saw two guild members unconscious in the middle of the room and everyone else was either collapsed on the ground or…frozen in place?

"What the fuck is going on here?" he growled.

"Welcome back Gajeel," he heard a voice and then turned around to see who was talking to him.

"Don't _welcome back Gajeel_ me, Edwin. What the hell is going on?" Gajeel growled, crossing his arms. "Why is everyone acting like weird statues?"

"I believe they said it was Sound Dragon Slayer magic," Edwin hummed to himself, rubbing his chin trying to remember. "It affected everyone but me. Guess it's because of these," he added as he tapped his noise cancelling headphones. "They screamed, and then everyone was frozen." Edwin made sure not to use the pronoun _she_. Not only was he completely embarrassed by what happened, but if Gajeel found out it was a woman who got the best of them all, he'd never let the guild live it down.

"A Dragon Slayer did this?" Gajeel cocked his studded eyebrow up in confusion. "Why? What did they want?"

Edwin gestured over his shoulder with a tilt of his head. "See for yourself. They left you a little something."

Gajeel looked ahead to see the message on the wall written in blood. The first thing that caught his eye was the Fairy Tail guild symbol, then that it was addressed specifically to him. Reading the short message, his teeth impulsively grinded together in anger. "Cocky little shit…" Gajeel turned to Edwin again. "How'd they know it was me?"

"I wasn't really in a position to refuse to answer their questions," he replied, pointing to the marks on his neck where the claws had dug in. "If I wasn't compliant… Well…" He gestured to their other guild mate, Sebastian, who was lying against the wall, blood still seeping out of his throat.

"Gihihi, looks one of those Fairy Tail scum's got some fight in 'em," Gajeel smirked. "Takes a lot of guts to walk into Phantom Lord and start ripping out throats. What'd 'Bastion even do to make 'em that pissed?"

Edwin chuckled to himself. "The idiot said that you'd kill them all and then spat in their face. They showed no hesitation after that."

Gajeel glanced at the message again with a smirk. "If this Kyo guy wants a fight, he's got one."

* * *

><p>She couldn't have risked staying in Oak Town any longer, so Kyokuko refused to swing back to the café she had visited earlier in order to replenish her magic power. This meant she wasn't able to use Speed of Sound in order to return to Magnolia.<p>

"I really should've been a little more economic with my magic," she grumbled. Her feet were sore from all the walking. She could've taken a train but… She shivered; just the thought of transportation made her sick to her stomach. "But Banshee Shriek was the only way I was going to get in, get answers, and get out without getting attacked full on by an entire guild."

She didn't get back into Magnolia until early afternoon; Kyokuko had taken a break in the middle of the night to sleep in a tree. Even though she gained a bit of power back from her rest, she decided it was best to save it just in case she came across a Phantom Lord member itching for a fight - preferably that idiot Dragon Slayer that destroyed her guild hall. She smiled to herself, imagining the anger he would experience when he got back to his stupid guild hall and saw _her_ damage.

Standing in front of her guild hall, she looked up and smiled. "Well, at least they got rid of those metal bar things," she said to herself as she opened the door and walked into the basement. Instead of what she was expecting – Natsu causing a ruckus, Gray stripping, Erza yelling at them, ecetera – Kyokuko was greeted with silence and an empty guild hall basement. The only other person besides her was Mirajane who was sitting in the corner with a solemn expression.

"Mira?" Kyokuko called out to get the barmaid's attention. At the sound of her name, she whipped around with wide, frightened eyes but once she saw it was Kyokuko she calmed herself down. "Where _is_ everyone?"

"They've gone to Phantom Lord," she answered with sadness in her voice. "To go to war…"

"Crap," Kyokuko spat. "Did I take too long? Did they think something happened to me? Fuck. I knew I should've just manned up and taken the train back…"

"No, it's not like that…," Mira said softly and stood from the table she was seated at. "Come with me." The Take Over wizard took hold of Kyokyko's hand and gently guided her out of the guild hall's basement.

"Whenever you say _come with me_, I know I'm going to see something I won't like…," she sighed in return while not showing any resistance, allowing herself to be pulled to wherever Mirajane wanted her to be.

It was a silent walk; Mira's puffy eyes stayed fixated on the ground in front of her as her hand squeezed Kyokuko's wrist. The Sound Dragon Slayer didn't know what to say, so she stayed quiet as well. It didn't take long to reach their destination, and when Kyo found herself in front of the hospital, she felt a knot form in her stomach. Warily, she looked at Mira to analyze the emotions on her face. However, she was still looking down at the ground in sadness before she opened the door and continued to lead Kyokyko to their final destination.

After another door at the end of the hallway was opened by the two wizards, Lucy looked up from inside the room and her lips turned up in a faint smile. "Oh, good. You're back safe, Kyo."

"Kyokuko-dono!" Sonata cried as she flew towards her friend at top speed, tackling her and causing her to stumble back slightly from the impact. "Sonata was so worried! Do not make a habit of leaving like this again!"

The Dragon Slayer hushed her companion and stroked the top of her head softly. "Sorry for worrying y-" Kyokyko froze midsentence when she finally took in what was in the room: a broken and beaten Team Shadow Gear.

"Levy…," she whispered to herself sadly. "Jet… Droy…"

"Phantom Lord attacked them last night," Lucy explained in a soft, sullen tone, knowing the question was coming.

After sniffing the air and picking up a familiar scent, Kyokuko's brows furrowed. She could smell it all over her family – the scent of that damn Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Gajeel," she growled. "Gajeel did this…"

"That's why everyone left to go to war on Phantom…," Mira cried softly, wiping away the tears forming in her eyes. "Master wouldn't stand back and let them continue after he saw that they hurt his children…"

"Fuck," Kyokuko snarled, rubbing her temples with one of her hands as the other stayed wrapped around Sonata. "I should've stayed here… If I had caught wind of Gajeel's scent last night, I could've-"

Mirajane placed her hand delicately on top of Kyo's shoulder in an attempt to cut her off and comfort her. "This isn't your fault, Kyo. Something else would've happened to lead to this. Nothing was going to stop this war."

"Even so, if I stayed here, I could've gone with everyone and helped them fight… I'm such an idiot; why did I go by myself?"

"Don't blame yourself, Kyo," Lucy added. "You were taking care of Phantom Lord; everyone was commemorating you. They were all so impressed with your courage of going to retaliate on your own because that was what you believed in. They all wished they had gone to help sooner." Lucy paused and buried her face in her hands and let out a sob. "I was so worried about you, Kyo… I was worried that they'd all return carrying your broken body… I couldn't handle seeing another one of my friends get hurt…" Lucy felt a hand on her back, pushing her forward. When she looked up, she realized that she was being held to Kyokuko's chest and that Sonata's paws were wrapped around her arm in a small hug. Resting her head against her friend's chest, she let out the rest of her tears as Kyokuko stroked her hair and shushed her tears.

"I'm fine, Lucy," she assured with a sweet voice. "And I'm going to stay right here and help you watch after Levy and the boys. It's the least I can do after worrying you. And besides," Kyo sighed to herself. "I'd never be able to get back to Oak Town fast enough and still have enough power to fight."

Aimlessly, she turned her eyes to gaze out the window of the hospital room. _Take him down, Natsu_.

* * *

><p>Gajeel stood in the scaffolding of Phantom Lord's guild hall, looking down at everyone. Any second now, if Master Jose was right, those damn faries would be here to <em>thank him<em> for his _present_. He snickered to himself, in his usually _gihihi_ way. He was anticipating this; he'd finally be able to punch that cocky smirk off that damn Dragon Slayer's face.

Glancing back at the blood-stained wall, he balled up his fists as if it was predisposed in his personality to do so every time he got aggravated. _A __**real**__ Dragon…_ he thought bitterly. _Fuck this guy. He has no idea what kind of hell is waiting for him. I'm going to teach this punk a lesson. There's only enough room in the sky for __**one**__ Dragon_.

An explosion interrupted Gajeel's thoughts; his eyes trailed down to see the front door had been destroyed and what seemed like the entirety of the Fairy Tail guild was at their doorstep. At the forefront was an angry-eyed boy with pink hair that looked like he was about to rampage. Gajeel could smell the Dragon Slayer on him. He chuckled to himself, his smirk growing larger.

"Fairy Tail has come calling!" the short geezer accompanying the guild shouted; that must be their master, another one of the Ten Wizard Saints. With his exclamation, the fairies charged into the guild hall and began their attack.

Watching with a scowl on his face, Gajeel was noticeably unimpressed with what he saw: Phantom was getting destroyed by the fairy scum. It was clear to him that the only reason Phantom Lord had any respect was because of him, the Element Four, and Master Jose.

"Where is Gajeel?" Natsu screamed as he knocked back a group of Phantom wizards. "I'm going to show him the _real power_ of a Dragon Slayer!"

Gajeel sneered from where he stood and glared down at the smug, pink-haired Fairy Tail wizard. The words on the wall written behind him flashed before his eyes. _A __**real**__ Dragon…_ His fists tightened again. Jumping down, the impact destroyed the bar beneath him. Natsu turned to look at the cause of the crash, but it was clouded by dust and rubble. Breaking through the cloud of dust came an iron club extending at rapid speed; hitting him square in the gut, the force caused Natsu to fly back with a pained groan. On impact, the wall he hit crumbled and the debris fell over top of him.

"You must be that piece of shit, Kyo," Gajeel spat, emerging from the rubble. "For someone who talks so big, you sure don't deliver."

A flame-engulfed Natsu let out a roar of anger as the debris around him flew off his body. Standing up, his angry eyes met those who sucker punched him. He wanted to glare at him, but Natsu's eyebrow raised slightly as though he was confused. _He thinks __**I'm**__ Kyo? How does he even know her name?_ "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not Kyo." This time, Gajeel's studded eyebrow cocked up. "How do you even know their name?"

Gesturing towards the wall behind him with a twitch of his head, Gajeel made sure not to take his eyes off this _Not-Kyo_. "A guy named Kyo came in here last night, killed a Phantom wizard, and left me this message."

Natsu quickly skimmed through the short message on the wall and smirked to himself. _So he thinks Kyo is a guy huh? I'll play along._

"Good ol' Kyo," he chuckled. "He didn't bother coming with us; said you guys were a waste of time. He only cared about you – his exact words were _bring me Black Steel and I'll show him what happens when you mess with us._"

"That cocky piece of shit," Gajeel hissed, buying into Natsu's ruse. "So who are you? I smell Dragon all over you."

"I'm Natsu Dragneel," he grinned. Gajeel had enough of these cocky Fairy Tail punks. "I'm Fairy Tail's Fire Dragon Slayer!"

Suddenly, Edwin's words sounded through Dragon Slayer's head. _"I believe they said it was Sound Dragon Slayer magic."_

_How did Fairy Tail manage to con two Dragon Slayers to join their weak little guild?_ Gajeel thought to himself as he sneered, readying another _Iron Dragon: Club_.

* * *

><p>Kyokuko let out a loud yawn as she stretched her arms over her head.<p>

"Tired?" Lucy smiled, turning to her.

"Bored…" Her stomach grumbled loudly. "And hungry…"

Lucy chuckled and stood up from her chair. "I'll go buy us some food."

"Shouldn't I come with you?" Kyokyko asked, tilting her head to the side.

"One of us should stay here with Levy and the boys," the blonde replied as she sadly glanced at the hospital beds in front of them. "Besides, I can feel my butt falling asleep." She rubbed her backside with an annoyed expression. "I could use the time to stretch my legs and get some fresh air. I've been in this stuffy hospital room all day."

The Sound Dragon Slayer nodded at her with a soft smile. "Sounds fair; be careful out there."

"You worry too much," Lucy said as she walked towards the door. "They would never attack during the day; besides, all the Phantom Lord guild members are all probably at their hall getting their asses handed to them by Natsu and the others. Anyway, see you in a bit, Kyo."

Kyokuko watched Lucy as she walked out of the hospital room, then glanced back down at the beds in front of her. With a heavy sigh, she stood up and checked Team Shadow Gear's vitals, looked to see if their bandages needed to be replaced, and then sat back down.

She was slightly hunched over, elbows propped on her knees with her hands folded in front of her face, thumbs hooked under her chin. A wave of emotions washed over her as she watched the unconscious Levy – sadness, anger, guilt. Mostly anger.

How could someone attack such a sweet, petite girl like Levy? Kyokuko was upset about Jet and Droy being attacked too, but… Levy was so fragile. So small. Even though Kyo found her Solid Script magic impressive and interesting, it doesn't do much when surprise-attacked; there was no way she would have had the opportunity to fight back.

However, Levy looked to be in better shape than her partners – at least none of her bones were broken. Jet and Droy mush have pushed themselves in front of Levy to protect her. That was the only explanation; it's not like that scumbag, Gajeel, would have went easy on her just because she was a girl.

Thinking of that name made the anger swell up even more inside of Kyokuko. When she found him, she was going to rip open his chest to see if there even was a heart in there. And if there was, she was going to tear it out of his bleeding body and crush it in her hands. Kyokuko took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Leaning back, she folded her hands behind her head and closed her eyes as a means to relax.

She hoped that Natsu was raising hell over at Phantom Lord. She was hoping they all were. Gray and Erza and Cana and Master Makarov… She was hoping they were all doing their part fighting for Fairy Tail's honor. A small smile played her lips; hoping wasn't the right word to use. She had no doubt in her mind that they were. They were Fairy Tail wizards after all. She let the heartwarming thought of her beloved family standing together to fight lull her to sleep.

* * *

><p>The sound of a thunder clap woke Kyokuko from her nap. Groggily, she swiped at her eyes with a balled up fist before yawning. "Damn, how long was I out?" she mumbled, glancing at the window. <em>Shit, it's dark out, <em>she internally hissed. _No wait. It's…raining?_ That was strange. She saw no signs of incoming rain when she was coming back to Magnolia.

Interrupting her thoughts, the doorknob turned and Kyokuko turned to smile at the door. _Finally, Lucy's back with food. I'm starving_, she thought. But her smile faded when it wasn't Lucy who stepping in.

"Mira?"

"How are you, Kyo?" she asked, forcing a smile. Mirajane was clearly still upset with the whole situation; even more so because she felt useless. "Where's Lucy?"

"I thought you were her…," she mumbled her response. She tugged at the chain hanging off her jeans and pulled a silver pocket watch out of her pocket. "It's been a few hours since she left to get food…"

Mirajane tried to hide her nervousness by widening her fake smile. "Maybe she came back, saw you were asleep, and went home. Lucy loves taking baths, so maybe she wanted to take the opportunity."

"Maybe…," Kyokuko muttered.

"How are Levy and the boys doing?"

"Unconscious, but other than that, they'll be fine with some time and rest."

"I'll look after them for a while," Mira said with a soft smile. "You should get some food and fresh air."

With a nod, Kyokuko stood up and groaned. "Damn, my back…," she hissed, rubbing the small of her back with her hand. Moving her hands to her waist, she leaned back and heard the cracking sound of the air bubbles in her spine popping. With a groan, she raised her hands in the air to stretch her shoulders. Yawning, she brought her arms back down. "That's the last time I sleep in a chair…" Looking down, she saw Sonata sound asleep on the other chair, curled up in a little ball. With a smile, she lifted the Exceed into her arms, causing her to wake up.

"_Nya?_" she yawned, stretching her arms by extending them to the sky.

"Let's go get something to eat," Kyo said softly, smiling at her. At the promise of food, Sonata's expression brightened and she cheered with another _nya_.

Mirajane watched the two leave with a faint, genuine smile before examining the Fairy Tail members in the hospital beds.

"What should we get?"

"Fish!" Sonata cheered, flying next to her companion.

Kyokuko chuckled. "Why am I not surprised?"

The two walked out of the hospital and into the rain. Kyokuko leaned her head back to let the refreshing, cold rain splash against her face. Sonata was less enthusiastic about the rain, hissing at it and refusing to leave the shelter of the hospital.

Smiling at her, Kyokuko opened her vest and the cat happily entered the leather sanctuary, sitting on Kyokuko's large hips and wrapping her arms around Kyokuko's torso. She let out an affectionate purr as she nuzzled her face into her companion's side.

"You're so cute," Kyokuko smiled. "Come on, let's go get some food."

* * *

><p>"Damn it, Lucy…," Kyokuko sighed, frowning to herself. "I'm so sorry…" Natsu had just returned with Lucy, who was apparently kidnapped while Kyokuko was napping in the hospital. Kyo buried her face into her hands and sighed again. "I should've went with you."<p>

"It's not your fault, Kyo," Natsu said, placing an hand on her shoulder. "She's safe now, so it's fine."

"It's _not_ fine, Natsu," Lucy said sadly. "This is all my fault… Levy and the boys… Master Makarov… The guild hall… It's all because I went by myself instead of staying…"

"No, Kyo," Lucy sobbed into her hands. "It's all my fault; my father made them do this…"

Natsu groaned and rolled his eyes. "You two really need to stop blaming yourselves for everything."

"Natsu's right," Gray interrupted the conversation. "Even without Lucy's dad hiring Phantom to get her back, the bad blood between us has been here forever. This would've happened eventually."

"Yeah, but I ran off and didn't fight with you. I could've helped Master," Kyo said, turning her head to look at the Ice Make wizard. "I was _here_, not doing anything, and Lucy _still_ got captured. I'm totally useless."

"Kyo," Natsu said sharply, giving her a warning glare. "Shut up. It's not your fault. Not Lucy, and definitely not Gramps. Phantom pulled a dirty trick on him."

Kyokuko sighed and stood up from the barrel she was sitting on and walked over to Mirajane, who was currently talking to a Communications Lacrima Crystal. She saw Mira to be visibly upset, so she walked closer to see what was going on. Her stomach churned when she saw Laxus' face in the Lacrima.

"Please Laxus," Mirajane cried softly. "The Master is down and we can't find Mystogan. We _need _you here to help."

"I _really_ don't see how any of this is _my_ problem," Laxus said unenthusiastically; Kyokuko could see his shoulders shrug through the crystal.

His tone and lack of interest irritated her. She was already pissed off enough, and the arrogant S-Class wizard wasn't helping. Kyokuko gently pushed Mirajane out of the way to glare into the Communications Crystal. "It's _your_ problem because you bear the Fairy Tail guild stamp. It's your _duty_ to help us protect this guild."

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Kyo," he grinned at her. "Back from touring I see. How's it going, sweetie?"

"Shut up," she spat back.

"Feisty as ever." Laxus' smirk grew as he observed Kyo's irritation grow as well.

"Seriously, Laxus. Fuck off," she growled. "Your fucking _grandfather_ had his magic stolen. They destroyed the guild hall. They kidnapped Lucy."

"I keep hearing that name," he said with another shrug. "But who _is_ she? Oh, she's that cute blonde that recently joined right? Tell you what, if you convince her to be my woman, I'll come over there and save all your asses."

"In your dreams," Kyokuko hissed back. "You're a fucking cow."

"Well, what about you, Kyo?" he smirked, raising one of his eyebrows suggestively. "You and I have always had a connection."

"It'll be a cold day in hell, Laxus. Maybe if you weren't such a colossal piece of shit, you wouldn't have to bribe women to be your girlfriend," she growled at him, clenching her fists. "The promise of a woman shouldn't be the reason you come to defend your own god damn guild. And _you_ want to be the new Master? As if. You don't deserve the title; you don't even deserve the stamp."

"Kyo, calm down," Mira's soft voice tried to interject.

"If you don't want to help, _fine_. But you better not show your face around here again," Kyokuko's eyes narrowed into slits, resembling the dragon-like eyes that struck fear into the members of Phantom Lord the other day. Laxus didn't falter, however, and continued to smile at her with his cocky expression.

"Whatever, babe," he shrugged, still smirking at her. "Just remember the offer is still open when you realize you can't do it without me."

Without a second longer of hesitation, Kyokuko's clenched fist collided with the Communications Lacrima Crystal, shattering it into pieces.

"We don't need you," she hissed to herself. "I'll save this guild _alone_ if I have to…"

"You don't need to do this by yourself," Cana said, standing up and resting her hand on Kyokuko's shoulders. "We're all here to fight. We'll take down these clowns and show them whose boss." Kyokuko turned her head to see her friend's confident smile. She smirked in return and cracked her knuckles; each pop of her bones sent out a small sound blast. The sound and release of magic energy caused all the wizards in the basement of the Fairy Tail guild to turn and look at her. They smiled when they saw the fire behind her eyes return.

"Bring it on, Phantom. I'm all jazzed up and ready to rock."

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><p><strong>MUSIC PUNS. ABSOLUTELY.<strong>

**Music inspiration: none for this chapter. I'M SORRY IF IT WAS BORING I JUST WANNA GET A MOVE ON ORZ**

**Reviews pls :3 **


	4. The Encounter

**Firstly, thank you for everyone who has followed and fav'd this story since I started. Also, super special thank you to **_**Black Dragon 42**_** for my first review!**

**Important announcement: updates may be sparse for a bit; I'm considering participating in NaNoWriMo this year so I don't know how much time I'll have to work on fanfiction. I'll probably turn to this story as a palette cleanser whenever I get sick of writing my 'novel'. Anyway, I hope you can understand if this story doesn't get updated in a month; wish me luck!**

**Anyway, on with the story.**

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><p>Kneeling over an injured Erza, Kyokuko growled to herself. "God fucking damn it…" She looked up and glared at the mechanical Guild Hall that stood before them. Phantom Lord was absolutely insane. And so was Erza, thinking she could take a hit from that canon on her own. "Erza, you're too rash…"<p>

"I had…to protect…the guild…," she muttered back, lying on the ground trying to wait for the pain throughout her body to stop.

Looking back down at the scarlet-haired wizard, Kyokuko frowned to herself. She looked so frail; so unlike the great Erza she knew. Kyokuko clenched her fist in anger. "They'll pay for this…"

Erza smiled faintly to herself despite her pain. She could see the rage in Kyokuko's eyes; the dilated, animalistic eyes of an enraged Dragon Slayer. Kyokuko was different from Natsu. When all is said and done, even though rage fuels his magic, Natsu has a kind, gentle heart. Killing an opponent would never cross his mind. Kyokuko however… She craved blood. And she would not hesitate to spill it if it meant avenging friends.

Everyone in the guild thought Erza was the scary one… Kyokuko had two sides to her. There was the one that everyone in Fairy Tail knows: carefree, caring, nurturing, artistic. However, there was that darker side that not many got to experience: short-tempered, aggressive, bloodthirsty, relentless. When the two were younger, Erza asked Kyokuko to attend an S-Class mission with her, much to Natsu's distaste.

* * *

><p><em>Erza didn't know how she managed to let these goons get the best of her. This Dark Guild was more dangerous than she would have ever imagined. She was almost positive that her dominant arm was broken, blood was spilling out of multiple wounds on her body, and all her magic was drained. And to make matters worse, she was separated from Kyokuko. She was all alone. As she watched what was left of the Dark Guild approach her, she closed her eyes dreading what was to come next.<em>

_However, her eyes shot open when she heard a menacing snarl and felt a burst of magical energy. A dark figure jumped over her body and let out another roar. Erza's eyes widened in shock when she realized that it was Kyokuko. Or rather, it __**looked**__ like Kyokuko. __**Slightly**__._

_Whoever – or whatever – it was, it was wearing the same tattered jeans and leather vest she was wearing earlier. But there was something strange about it. It almost looked feral; it was slightly slouched over, panting aggressively at Erza's enemies. Black scales – or so they appeared – covered its arms; they were denser at the shoulders and slowly faded down the arm, completely disappearing at the wrists. Although the hands looked human, pointed black claws extended out from the fingertips instead of Kyokuko's short, black-polished nails._

_After a sweeping motion of its arm released a blast that sent the Dark Guild wizards flying, the figure turned its head towards Erza, confirming its identity as Kyokuko. Like her arms, scales were present on her face, but they covered only the right side, trailing down to slightly cover her guild stamp. Despite her monstrous appearance, what Erza found most frightening were her eyes. Erza has seen the way Kyokuko's eyes dilate when she's angry; they would become almost reptilian. Even now, they were in that state, but they almost seemed to glow. It was what Erza imagined it would be like looking into the eyes of the mythical beasts that Kyokuko and Natsu claimed to be trained from. If there was ever any doubt in her mind that they were truly raised by dragons, they would be all gone now. Kyokuko had truly taken their form._

"_Erza," Kyokuko spoke to her. It was definitely Kyokuko's voice; she was still in there. There was a gravelly tone to it, but it was still her. "Are you alright?"_

_As Erza tried to sit up, she hissed in pain before collapsing again. The Dragon-Form Kyokuko rushed to her side to examine the damages. Giving her a once over, she growled. "Don't worry, Erza. They'll pay for this." The Sound Dragon Slayer gently laid Erza back down and turned to the Dark Guild wizards that were starting to regain composure._

_Erza watched in shock and disgust as Kyokuko rushed to the members, shredding them to pieces with her claws and ripping out their throats with her fangs. She wished she could have called out to stop her, but by the time the shock settled, the entire guild was dead. Kyokuko spit blood from her mouth, and Erza's stomach churned as she watched the crimson liquid slowly drip down her chin and hands. When she turned to her, Erza almost feared that she would be next, but as Kyokuko walked towards her, Erza watched as the scales on her body slowly disappeared and her appearance return to normal. Her claws contracted, her eyes lost their magical glow, and her fangs returned to her abnormally sharp canines._

"_Sorry you had to see that…," Kyokuko muttered as she wiped the enemies' blood from her chin. "Seeing them break you… I just kinda lost it." She sighed to herself and shook her head before bending over to pick Erza up in her arms. "Let's get you looked at."_

_Despite the horrific scene she had just witnessed, Erza looked up at Kyokuko with a soft smile. She was a protector at heart; almost like a proud mother. Although she had lost herself to rage and desolated the enemy, she still knew who it was she was protecting and never lost sight of it. Even with those raging eyes, Kyokuko had turned to Erza and saw her beloved guild mate. She could still see it through her rage. Erza's eyes slowly closed and she allowed herself to fall unconscious to the relaxing thought that Kyokuko would always pull through for her, and for Fairy Tail, whenever they needed her most._

* * *

><p>"Now that your last hope is down for the count," Master Jose's voice boomed from the Guild Hall. "You might as well hand over Lucy Heartfilia."<p>

Kyokuko glared up at the mechanical Guild Hall looming over them. "If you seriously think we'd do that to her…," she growled lowly.

"We'd never betray her like that!" Erza snapped, sitting up despite her pain to glare as well. "You'd have to kill us first!"

An eruption of shouts sounded out around them; every single person in Fairy Tail was an honourable member. They would risk their lives to protect each other. Kyokuko's Sound Dragon ears could hear Lucy's sobs through the shouting.

"You have fifteen minutes," Master Jose snarled through his speaker. "Fifteen minutes to hand over Miss Lucy Heartfilia. And if you don't, I will fire Jupiter again. And this time, you won't survive." An army of Shade Troopers emerged from the Guild Hall following his announcement.

"Crap," Kyokuko groaned, and then picked Erza up in her arms.

"What are you –"

"Erza, hush," she replied softly, carrying the broken Requip wizard to the Guild Hall. "You need to rest."

Entering what was left of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Kyokuko saw Mirajane transformed into Lucy. She was able to tell from the dress. She raised her eyebrow at the Take-Over wizard in confusion. "Where's Lucy?" she asked as she placed Erza on a table.

"I asked Reedus to take her to the hideout," she replied sullenly, looking out a crack in the boarded up windows.

"Take care of Erza; I'm going to go out and help the others." Mirajane-as-Lucy nodded and Kyokuko turned on her heels and ran into the battlefield.

Snapping her fingers, two drumsticks requipped into her hands and a large, black drum set appeared in front of her. "Cana," she called out as she sat down at the drums. "Where's Natsu?"

Using one of her tarot cards, Canada attacked the Shade that was approaching her. "He went to try to destroy the Jupiter canon," she replied as she took out another card to prepare for the next attack. "Gray and Elfman followed him. Loke said he had a bad feeling about something and ran off."

"Don't worry; I've got your back," Kyokuko said with a grin. She began to play the drums; with every note, shock waves shot out like bullets, taking out waves of enemies.

Kyokuko didn't get many opportunities to play the drums in battle; there wasn't much mobility. But the drums were one of her most powerful instruments. Cana gawked at the damage the Sound Dragon Slayer was dealing and made a mental note of how thankful she was that she was an ally.

"Cana, look out!" Kyokuko shouted, slamming her stick against one of the cymbals. The quick wave took out the Shade Tropper that was sneaking up on Cana.

"Thanks Kyo," Cana let out a sigh of relief. "I owe you."

"I know I'm pretty awesome, but try to focus on the fight," she gave the Card Magic wizard a smirk as she continued to play. From her peripheral, she saw Wakaba fall after a Shade passed through him.

"Wakaba!" Macao called out as he watched his friend collapse.

"You need to watch out," Kyo called out. "If you touch them, they'll drain your energy."

"That's right, little miss," Jose's cocky voice sounded out. "My Shade Troopers have the ability to steal pieces of your soul and drain your life force."

"What?" Canada shouted in shock. "We need to keep nible and make sure they don't touch us." She turned towards Kyokuko. "Maybe you should switch to an instrument that gives you more movement."

"I'll be fine, Cana," Kyokuko grinned. "They won't be able to take my soul. I sold it for rock and roll a long time ago." She took her drumsticks and played a quick _ba dum tss_ sound at her joke.

Canada sighed, dodging another Shade before attacking it. "I don't think that's how it works, Kyo."

"Aw, some on! That was funny!" she puffed her cheeks out in a pout before returning to playing.

* * *

><p>The battle was going decently. Natsu managed to destroy Jupiter and it seemed as though all of the Elemental 4 were down, as seen from the Phantom Lord Giant not drawing its magic circle anymore. The Shade Troopers were annoying, but luckily playing the drums didn't give off much magical energy considering the damage it could do.<p>

Everything was looking up until Jose's voice sounded out again, announcing that they had captured Lucy. When Kyokuko heard that scream, her blood went col. Her drum set disappeared as she stood up.

"Sonata," she called out.

"Yes, Kyokuko-dono?" Sonata answered flying towards her from her hiding spot.

"Fly me to the Guild Hall," she said sternly.

"But Kyokuko-dono…"

"That wasn't a request, Sonata," Kyo growled, not taking her eyes off the guild hall. As soon as she felt Sonata pick her up, she muttered "_Sound Dragon Secret Art: Speed of Sound_." Since Sonata was touching her, she too gained the power of speed and the two disappeared in a flash.

Following her nose, Kyokuko quickly found Natsu leaning over Erza. She was telling him something in a hushed tone, probably due to her lack of strength, but Kyo's ears picked it up.

"Use your strength, Natsu… It like dormant… Deep inside you…," Erza's voice cracked. "We need you…"

"Don't count me out," Kyokuko added, stepping forward.

"Kyo," Natsu said with a weak smile.

"I heard Lucy…," she growled. "That scream…" She balled up her fists in anger and Natsu jumped back slightly when he saw her eyes narrow. "I'll make them scream instead… They'll scream for mercy…"

Erza smiled again. She didn't need to tell Kyokuko to find her inner strength. Although Erza had only seen her enter that rabid, Dragon-like state, she had no doubt that if push came to shove she would find it within her again and transform. "Be careful you two," she said softly as the two Dragon Slayers walked out of the room.

* * *

><p>Kyokyko and Natsu ran through Phantom Lord's mobile guild hall, trying to find the guy responsible for what happened to Fairy Tail and the abduction of Lucy. Kyokuko still hasn't met this <em>Black Steel Gajeel <em>she's heard so much about, but she promised him that she'd show him what happens when you mess with her guild, so she was eager to find him. And he was a Dragon Slayer to boot. Kyokuko grinned to herself, looking forward to a challenge. She was going to kick in this guy's teeth for what he did to her guild and to her friend. Suddenly, her heightened Sound Dragon hearing picked up a thump of something hitting a wall, followed by a familiar shriek of pain.

"Lucy…," Kyokuko growled, angry that someone was hurting a member of her family.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Natsu's eyes narrow. She smiled despite the situation. Natsu's pissed now; that guy's not going to stand a chance.

"**GAJEEL!**" he screamed as he uppercut the ceiling with a fiery fist.

As the smoke settled, it revealed a broken and beaten Lucy. Instinctively, Kyokuko ran to her side and helped her up. "I'm so sorry Lucy…," she whispered. "I should have gone with you and Reedus… I should've gone with you instead of staying at the hospital with Levy and the boys… I should've protected you…"

Lucy weakly smiled at her in response. "Don't apologize. Besides –" she looked over at the pink-haired Dragon Slayer and smirked. His fists were clenched with angry flames surrounding them. "-Natsu's _all fired up_ now. That guy is toast."

"Lucy!" Happy walked towards the two girls. "Are you okay?"

"Lucy no kimi," the other cat bowed. "Sonata deeply regrets not being able to protect you… _Nya…_"

"Happy, Sonata," Lucy smiled. "I'm fine. Thank you."

"You're a dead man, Gajeel," Natsu growled. "You hear me?!"

"Gajeel…," Kyokuko growled as her eyes moved from Lucy to Natsu's opponent. Finally, she'll meet him. As she laid eyes on him, her eyes widened. "He…!" she gasped. Everyone turned to look at Kyokuko after hearing her outburst. She pressed her hands to her cheeks, hearts practically in her eyes. "He's _gorgeous_!"

Lucy and Natsu sighed in response, sweat forming on their heads. The Iron Dragon Slayer first cocked his eyebrow up in confusion but then smirked in amusement.

"Those arms! That jaw! Oooh, just look at how defined his neck and collar bone are!" she swooned and sighed as she looked over Gajeel. "_That man!_ I think I'm in love!"

"Not now!" Natsu shouted at her. "Control yourself! Remember what he did to Fairy Tail! He hurt Lucy!"

Kyokuko's eyes darkened at the reminder of the current state of her home. It was by this man's hands… She sighed. "It's such a shame…," she muttered, requipping her trusty electric guitar. "Under different circumstances, I'd make you mine in a heartbeat." Kyokuko fished a guitar pick out of her bra and frowned. "But you hurt my family." Plucking at the strings of the guitar, she listened for the tune, tightening and loosening the strings as she deemed fit. "And even if you have a super sexy body, I'm gonna make you pay for what you did!"

"Sorry girlie," Gajeel chuckled, smirking at his new prey. "I have some unsettled business with Salamander over here."

"Nnn, that voice…," Kyokuko wavered, biting her lip slightly. "Oh, it's gonna pain me to hurt someone so damn fine…"

"_Focus_!" Natsu shouted at her again, extra veins appearing on his forehead from the annoyance.

"Right. Gotcha," she winked at her teammate and gave him a thumbs-up.

Gajeel turned to the members of his guild. "Back off; Salamander's mine."

"Sorry to disappoint you," the Sound Dragon Slayer smirked as she strummed her guitar. "But you'll have to go through me first. You ready, sexy? Let's rock."

"Gihihi," Gajeel chuckled. "Your little Fire Dragon over there could barely put a dent in me. What makes you think you can do any better, girlie?"

She pouted playfully at her enemy. "Aw, you don't know who I am? Well, let's get acquainted." She started playing a riff on her guitar. They were rhythmic and calm, as if she were opening a song. "The name's Kyokuko but you can call me Kyo, sexy," she said as she winked at the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Could you _stop_ calling him sexy?" Natsu groaned, slapping his palm to his forehead in annoyance. "He's our _enemy_."

"Shh, you," she whipped her head around to glare at Natsu, still playing her guitar.

"So _you're_ Kyo, huh?" Gajeel smirked. "Didn't expect you to be a chick, considering the scare you gave my guild. They didn't even want to talk about what happened when I got back. I gotta say, I like you're style, girlie. Gihihi…"

"I happen to be the pupil of the amazingly talented Rhapsodia." Her playing became louder and more aggressive. Gajeel could feel the unsettling vibrations in his piercings. Kyokuko smirked at him. "They call me the Sound Dragon Slayer –" she plucked a chord and distorted its sound with the whammy bar. The sound waves aimed at Gajeel, causing him to hiss and cover his years. "- and I'm about to rock your world. _Sound Dragon: Power Chord!_" After another aggressive strum, a sound wave from her guitar sent Gajeel flying back.

Picking himself up, he smirked at the girl. "Like I said, girlie, I've got a score to settle with that Salamander. If you want some, you can get some, but just let me pulverize that loser first." He cracked his neck, his confident smirk still plastered on his face.

"Oh, _I want some_," she muttered to herself with a sly grin. "But oh well." She dequipped her guitar and walked back to sit with Lucy and the cats. "You heard the man, Natsu. You're up."

"Alright! I'm all fired up now! Like I said Gajeel, you're a dead man," Natsu grinned, balling a fist of fire.

"For Fairy Tail scum, you're pretty cocky," Gajeel chuckled, twisting his arms around to get all the kinks out of his shoulders.

"You're the only scum I see here, asshole," Natsu hissed. "I'm gonna get you back for what you did to Fairy Tail. And Lucy. I'm going to use this fire magic to melt your _ugly iron face_."

"Gihihi," Gajeel laughed again. "Your cute little partner over there doesn't seem to think my face is ugly."

"_He called me cute!_" Kyokuko squealed with her hands yet again firmly pressed against her cheeks.

"Kyokuko-dono, please restrain yourself," Sonata sighed, flying next to her and bonking her on the head with her paw. Her soft attack didn't seem to faze Kyokuko as she continued to smile.

The two Dragon Slayers had already begun their battle; flame punches and iron clubs clashed, causing a huge ruckus that pulled Kyokuko out of her giddy state.

"Just look at that power…," she stated in awe. Another blush crept across her cheeks as her eyes twinkled in excitement. "And those mus-" Sonata cut her off by placing a paw over her mouth.

"There is a time and place for everything, Kyokuko-dono. However, there is _never_ a time for your ceaseless lust for men. _Nya_…" As she sighed out her catchphrase, the cat watched the battle with interest. "Natsu-dono and the Iron Oni… This is true Dragon Slayer power…"

Kyokuko pushed the small paw off her mouth and glared at her friend. "Um. _Rude_. I'm _right here_."

Sonata's jaw dropped. "My apologizes, Kyokuko-dono! I did not mean to-"

The cat was cut off by a crushing hug. "Aww! I'm so glad you spoke in first person, I don't even _care_ that you insulted me to my face!"

Natsu went flying from one of Gajeel's punches. His skin was replaced with iron scales, and it looked as if it wasn't just for protection; it amplified his attack's strength. Kyokuko could tell from the bruise already forming on Natsu's forearm, where he tried to deflect Gajeel's punch.

"Natsu…," Lucy whimpered, scared for her friend's safety.

Kyokuko's eyes widened at Natsu's state and then grinded her teeth together. "Sexy or not… No one hurts my friend."

"Hearing you hit that wall was like music to my ears," Gajeel chuckled, watching Natsu try to get up.

The Sound Dragon's eyes narrowed. "So you wanna hear some music, you punk?" she growled, stepping forward, ready to requip her guitar once more.

"It's alright, Kyo," Natsu said weakly as he stood up. "I got this."

Kyokuko's teeth grinded together again as she watched Gajeel pummel her closest friend with iron fists. "Natsu you idiot…" The loud _clang_ that sounded as Natsu's fist collided with Gajeel's face made Kyokuko wince. "Stupid idiot, do you really think you can just _punch_ iron scales like that?"

"It's like he's…indestructible…," Lucy stammered, eyes wide in awe.

"Natsu, no!"

"Natsu-dono!"

The two girls and two cats watched as the Fire Dragon rolled out the ground, writhing in the pain from his fist's collision with Gajeel's face. While the others looked concerned, Kyokuko sighed and slapped her palm to her forehead.

"Idiot, don't use physical attacks like that! It's going to break your bones!" she called out to him. "Use your Fire D-"

"Fire Dragon…" Natsu started, taking his stance.

"Finally," she rolled her eyes.

"Iron Dragon…" Gajeel mirror, taking a similar stance.

"No way!" Lucy gasped.

"**ROAR!**" the two Dragons shouted in unison. When they're blasts collided, the force sent everyone flying back. When the debris settled, Kyokuko could tell the room they were in was completely wrecked. And so was Natsu's body.

"Fuck," she growled, examining the damage. "Gajeel doesn't even have a scratch…" Her eyes sparkled again when she noticed the hole in his shirt. "Holy crap, those abs…," she whispered to herself. "Damn he's fine…"

"Think again, Kyo," Natsu grinned, not hearing her final comment. As if on cue, the once perceived indestructible armour shattered along the Iron Dragon Slayer's cheek bone.

"Hell yeah, Natsu!" Kyokuko cheered, pumping her fist in the air.

"Hurray for Natsu-dono!"

"How did you…?" Gajeel growled, shocked at the crack in his armor.

"You think my fire's average or something?" Natsu growled at Gajeel, ripping off his vest.

"Ooooh~" Kyokuko squealed, hearts appearing in her eyes. "You go Natsu! Owow!" The Sound Dragon cheered, resulting in another collective sigh from her friends.

Her fellow Dragon Slayer blushed and glared at her. "Really? _Now_? Could you _not_?"

"Sorry, sorry…," she giggled, waving it off. "You two boys go on with your sexy selves. I'll be here. Watching." She let out another dreamy sigh.

_Weirdo_… the pink-haired man thought to himself. "Anyway, you ready for a _real fight_, Black Steel?" Natsu growled after he collected himself. "I'm going to fucking _destroy you_."

"Gihihi… I'd like to see you try!" the Iron Dragon laughed in response, the force from his magic energy destroying his shirt.

"Eeee!" Kyokuko squealed yet again. "So sexy!" She stuck her fingers in her mouth and wolf-whistled at the two men. For a moment, Natsu swore he saw Gajeel getting flustered by her as well. At least he wasn't alone in feeling awkward about it.

"Are…are they monsters…?" one of Phantom Lord's wizards asked in awe.

"The power of a Dragon Slayer…," Sonata said to herself.

"They're…amazing…," Lucy watched, wide-eyed. "And practically half naked…"

"Damn right they are!" Kyokuko was lying on her stomach, casually kicking her feet in the air as she gazed at the two men, her chin rested on folded hands that were propped up by their elbows.

"You need to seek professional help…," Lucy sighed and shook her head.

"The sky's not big enough for two dragons, Salamander," Gajeel growled at Natsu menacingly. "So I'm going to take you out."

As their fists collided, the blast sent onlookers back. When the dust cleared, the two Dragon Slayers could be seen battling in the sky.

"Hot damn," Kyokuko gasped. "Those two are on a whole other level."

As they landed, everyone could tell the two were out of breath. However, unfortunately for Natsu, Gajeel had a plan of action.

Natsu gawked as he saw Gajeel shove scrap metal into his mouth. "Aw come on! You're eating? That's not fair!"

"Gihihi… Looks like I got a fire in _my_ belly."

"Hey! That's my li-" Natsu was cut off when he noticed Kyokuko was standing next to him.

"Time for me to play," she grinned at her friend. "If Black Steel wants to play dirty and get back energy by eating, you can go rest while I rock his world."

"But Kyo-"

"Come on, Natsu," she smirked. "You can't hog all the fun."

Natsu saw the determination flash in Kyokuko's eyes and smiled up at her. "Alright. Be careful."

"Where do you think you're going, Salamander?" Gajeel growled.

"Sorry hot stuff, time for the Half Time entertainment," Kyokuko winked as she requipped her guitar. "You were talking about how there's not enough room in the sky for two dragons. Well, don't count me out."

"Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're a cute girl," Gajeel smirked, expecting her to falter again at a compliment.

Instead, she smirked back. "Oh, what a charmer. And let me tell you: just because you have a sexy body and I'd totally be _all over it_, don't think I'll go easy on you." She pulled her pick out of her bra again. "I play rough, sweetie."

Gajeel chuckled in his strange – albeit charming, Kyokuko thought – laugh. "Alright then. Let's **GO!**" The Dragon Slayer shouted, releasing his regained magic energy as a display of power.

Kyokuko merely stood there, guitar in hand, and closed her eyes. She hummed softly to herself, a content smile on her face. "Oh, such lovely sound waves… Now _I'm_ all fired up."

"Could you guys _not_ steal my lines?" Natsu whined from where he stood. "It doesn't even work with you!"

"You didn't have to put on such a big display, hot stuff," she giggled to herself. "No need to have a dick measuring contest with me. Not only do I not have one, but you don't have to prove anything to me. I bet you're plenty big." And with a wink, Gajeel was the one to falter.

"Shut up, girlie!" he growled, trying to hide his brief lack of composure. Luckily, his iron scales were able to hide the slight heat that rose to his cheeks. _What's with this girl?_ He thought to himself.

"All right, Black Steel," Kyokuko smirked, fingers set on her frets. "Let's rock."

* * *

><p><strong>Song Kyokuko played on the drums: <strong>_**Party Poison**_

**Song Kyokuko played on the guitar: **_**Paschendale**_

**As usual, the music playlist is linked on my profile.**

**Reviews are appreciated. **


	5. Three Dragon Slayers

**Yeah, so… NaNoWriMo isn't going that well =P**

**First of all, big thank you to the reviewers (**_**Vindicated Irony, Black Dragon 42, **_**and **_**bearcatmedia**_**) Reviews and constructive criticism really keep me motivated to keep writing :D And of course, thanks to all the favourites and follows since the last chapter.**

* * *

><p>Gajeel lunged towards Kyokuko, his body still encased in his iron dragon scale armor. To Kyokuko's delight, the brute let out a loud roar with his approach, energizing her with intense sound waves.<p>

"_Sound Dragon Secret Art: Speed of Sound._" With the power of sound, comes the power of speed. She activated her high speed abilities, causing Gajeel to move in slow motion to her. With a smirk on her face, she waited until he was about to strike her with clenched fists, but gracefully jumped over him and landed a few feet behind him.

While everything was moving in slow motion to Kyo, her friends and Gajeel were witnessing everything in real time. To them, it appeared everything happened in the blink of an eye.

"What?" Gajeel growled in confusion when he noticed his prey just vanished.

Kyokuko leaned in from behind him, a sly grin on her face. "Missed me," she chuckled in his ear.

With another yell, he whipped around, swinging his fist. She casually sidestepped his slow moving fist, causing Gajeel to miss her and tumble forward at the lack of impact.

"What the hell is this?" the Iron Dragon Slayer snarled. He continued to rapidly swing his fists at her, determined to land a blow, but his graceful opponent weaved her way through the barrage unscathed. "Sit still so I can punch ya!"

"Looks like Kyo's getting serious," Natsu smirked, enjoying Gajeel's state of aggravation. "I haven't seen her use her Speed of Sound during a fight in a _long_ time." He cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "Hey, Kyo! Quit teasing him! Your new toy is getting pissed!" Natsu called out as he laughed.

"Shut your damn mouth, Salamander!" Gajeel whipped his head around to glare at the Fire Dragon. "I ain't no one's toy! 'specially not some gir-"

"Aw," Kyokuko giggled, appearing in front of Gajeel and cupping his chin in her hand. It caught him off guard, cutting off his speech. He could feel her thumb grazing across his jaw bone, which pissed him off but also made the heat rise to his cheeks again ever so slightly. "But he's just so cute when he's all frustrated like this."

"Take me seriously, you bitch!" he screamed, attempting to head-butt her, but she disappeared again. Not being able to stop his forward motion, he fell face-first to the floor. Hearing Natsu's laughter aggravated him even more, and he growled as he picked himself off the ground. "Stop dancing around me and fight me like a man! Er… Dragon!"

Gajeel saw her appear a few meters in front of him; seeing her sly smirk pissed him off even more. "Alright, babe," she started, waggling her fingers towards her in a mocking way. "Let's rock."

"_Iron Dragon: Club!_" he growled, sending his transformed arm straight at her.

Jumping up, Kyokuko landed on top of the iron club and ran along to towards Gajeel, strumming her guitar as she ran. "_Sound Dragon: Crescendo!_" A loud wail came from her guitar, sending the Iron Dragon Slayer tumbling back. Gajeel let out a loud grunt when Kyokuko landed, standing on his chest. "Aw, did that hurt?"

"Fucking bitch…," he hissed, grabbing her leg and throwing her across the room.

"Kyo!" Natsu called out, his eyes widening in worry.

"_Sound Dragon: Echo Bounce!_"

All four of the Fairy Tail observers let out a relieved sigh when they saw their friend bounce off the wall with no damage, thanks to the sound waves she shot before impact.

"How did you…?" Gajeel growled when he saw her still standing.

"And you thought _you_ were the Dragon that would stay in the sky?" she asked with a devilish smirk. "_Sound Dragon: Crushing Acciaccato!_" As she strummed, sound waves built from her guitar, settling above her opponent. After it grew to the mass she wanted, she strummed an aggressive chord and all the pressure came crashing down on Gajeel. After a few moments, she saw him struggle to get up; Kyokuko frowned. Damn those iron scales – he should be down for the count.

"That fucking guitar," he hissed, sticking his clawed hand forward. Kyokuko saw his green Magic Seal appear. "_Iron Dragon Spear: Demon Logs!_"

Kyokuko was getting lax with the battle; those spears coming towards her were much faster than she anticipated. Although she was able to side-step out of the way in time to avoid damage to herself, she heard the snapping of her guitar strings.

"Bastard…," she growled, inspecting her instrument and seeing four of her six strings were snapped. She could also see holes in the guitar's body and a gash in the neck.

"Good luck fighting without your stupid guitar," Gajeel smirked.

"_Sound Dragon: Destruction Blast!_" she yelled, running towards Black Steel Gajeel. She moved so quickly, he couldn't see her until she appeared in front of him, her guitar swung back like a bat. Kyokuko smashed her broken guitar into Gajeel's face and it released a sonic blast, sending him flying in the opposite direction. He crashed into a wall and it tumbled down.

Dequipping her broken guitar, she walked towards Gajeel, still lying on the ground. Taking her foot, she stomped her boot on top of his head and pushed it back into the rubble beneath him. "You owe me a new guitar, asshole."

She heard him chuckle to himself and looked up to see what was so funny. Kyokuko's eyes widened at the sight before her: a giant Shade destroying her home. She could hear the cries of her friends mourning; Cana's shrill sobs louder than the others. Stepping forward, tears began to well up in her eyes. "No…"

"Looks like we're doing some redecorating," Gajeel chuckled again, standing up while she was distracted. His hand quickly reached out and tangled into her hair as Gajeel grabbed the back of her head, taking no time to smash her face into the ground. "Look at how pathetic you stupid fairies are. And now you don't have a place to call your own. We've won."

"Let go of her Gajeel!" Natsu screamed, trying to run forward but was held back by Lucy.

"Natsu, no!" she yelled at her friend, tears streaming down her face. "You need to rest! Kyo's doing this for you to get your strength back!"

"Not so fun when it happens to you, huh bitch?" Gajeel laughed, pulling her head up and smashing it back down into the stone rubble.

Her pained cry made Natsu's stomach churn in anger. "I'm warning you, Gajeel!"

Gajeel ignored the Fire Dragon's threats and pulled Kyokuko's face up from the rubble. He cupped her chin in his hands like she had done to him earlier. "You're just so cute when you're all broken and beaten like this." His clawed fingers grazed the guild stamp on her neck. Even though she was in pain, Kyokuko shivered at the cold steel grazing her. "It's a shame really. You could've been so much more powerful if you weren't weakened by these damn fairies."

"Get your hands off her!"

"You could've learned a thing or two from a _real dragon_," Gajeel said sinisterly with a smirk, glancing over his shoulder to look at the enraged Fire Dragon Slayer. He turned back to look at Kyokuko. "I'm impressed though. You put me in a pretty bad spot." His smirk grew into an evil grin. "I like you, girlie." To her surprise, Gajeel set Kyo down gently before standing up to turn to Natsu. "Is Half Time over yet?"

"K-Kyokuko-dono!" Sonata cried, flying over to her fallen friend. Gajeel didn't even give the cat a passing glance as it flew by his head.

"Gajeel…," Natsu growled. "I'm gonna kill you…" As soon as Natsu stood up, Gajeel just knocked him back down with one punch.

"Kyokuko-dono…," Sonata whispered as she sat next to her. "Kyokuko-dono… Sonata is… _I _am so sorry…" As Gajeel took enjoyment out of knocking Natsu down every time he tried to stand back up to fight, Sonata took her flute out. "My brave and strong Kyokuko-dono… I am so sorry I couldn't help you in time…" Taking the flute to her mouth, Sonata began to play a soft, relaxing tune. Gajeel, who was holding Natsu up by his hair and punching him in the stomach, took a break to look at the cat with a raised eyebrow.

"'N-Nata…" Natsu chocked out, watching sadly as the crying cat played her song for her best friend.

Lucy, who was standing to the side with Happy and her new spirit Sagittarius, wiped the tears from her eyes. "It's beautiful…"

"Sonata knows how to play the prettiest songs…," Happy said sadly, his eyes also filled with tears.

A sniffling sound was heard and Lucy turned her head to see tears streaming down Natsu's face. "That…that's the song Kyo played for me before bed…"

* * *

><p><em>It was when Natsu and Kyokuko first joined Fairy Tail after losing their adopted parents. Kyokuko was young – her hair was long and tied into a ponytail, she didn't have her dragon tattoo on her arm, and she wasn't primarily dressed in black leather. She looked like any other young woman. The two roomed together; Kyo wanted to make sure the young boy was taken care of. She managed to get everyone to agree to let him stay with her at Fairy Hills. They were best friends and she wanted to make sure he was always okay.<em>

_She was about to drag Natsu into the bathroom to force him to brush his teeth when she saw him clutching a pillow on his bed. "Tsu-Tsu, what's wrong?" a fourteen-year-old Kyokuko asked._

"_Don't call me Tsu-Tsu," ten year old Natsu replied, rubbing the tears from his eyes._

"_Don't tell me you're scared of the thunder storm," she chuckled._

"_No way! I'm not afraid of-" A loud thunder clap sounded and made Natsu jump. Instinctively, he buried his face into Kyokuko's chest and held her tightly. She could hear Natsu whimpering in fear._

"_Aw, Tsu-Tsu…," she whispered, stroking his spikey hair. "It's okay."_

"_Igneel used to let me hide under his wings whenever it thundered like this…," he mumbled into her chest._

"_Tsu-Tsu, I'm here," she whispered again, kissing his forehead. "Everything's fine. Now get your head out of my chest, you dumb little ostrich." Natsu hesitantly loosened his grip on her, and slowly pulled away. "Good, now lie down and go to sleep."_

"_But Kyo-Kyo…," Natsu pouted. "I won't be able to sleep with the thunder…"_

_Smiling, Kyokuko stroked his cheek lightly. "Want me to play you a song so you can sleep?"_

_Natsu nodded, wiping away the tears in his eyes._

"_Alright, Tsu-Tsu," she said softly. "But you have to lie down first."_

_Listening to his friend's instructions, Natsu placed the pillow he was clutching back in its spot and laid his head on it. Kyokuko pulled the covers over him and tucked him in and kissed his forehead before sitting by his side with an acoustic guitar. As she gently plucked the guitar strings, she sang to him. They weren't words; it was a step above humming, making "ooo" sounds. Her gentle voice mixed with the soft guitar distracted the young Natsu from the sounds of the storm, and he slowly drifted off to sleep. From that day forward, whenever Natsu had trouble falling asleep, she would play the song for him._

* * *

><p>"Kyo…," Natsu whimpered, listening to Sonata play the familiar song on a different instrument. "I'm sorry Kyo… I shouldn't have made you-" Natsu heard a sound coming from Kyo's direction, and it caused his words to get caught in his throat.<p>

"Ooo," Kyokuko sang along to Sonata's music.

"Kyo!" Natsu smiled, hearing her voice, still crying but now in tears.

Kyokuko sat up and gave Sonata a pat on the head. "Thanks buddy; that's just what I needed."

The cat beamed up at her. "Kyokuko-dono! I'm sorry I didn't help sooner!"

"Look at you, with your first person," Kyo smiled, scratching Sonata behind the ears, causing her to purr.

"How is that even possible?" Gajeel growled, letting go of Natsu's hair and making him fall to the ground.

"That's the thing about these _damn fairies_," Kyokuko smirked as she stood up. She dusted the rubble off her jeans. "You can knock us down as many times as you want. But we just come back stronger." Kyo slid her vest off her shoulders and handed it to Sonata, whispering something in the cat's ear; Sonata nodded and flew back to Natsu, Lucy, and Happy. "So is that all you got, Black Steel?" she asked, rolling her shoulders and jerking her neck side to side to get out the cracks. "Because now the kiddie gloves are coming off." Punching one fist into her open hand created a burst of sound, and with it the rubble was instantly cleared of her surrounding area.

Gajeel smirked at her. "You're pretty fun, girlie. Didn't think you'd last this long."

"Lucy no kimi, Natsu-dono, Happy-san, Sagittarius-san," Sonata whispered to her friends. Fishing into her pockets, she pulled out five sets of earplugs. "You'll want to put these in immediately." As she handed out the earplugs, she continued to give Kyokuko's instructions. "Natsu-dono, do you see that machinery over there?" Natsu nodded. "While Kyokuko-dono has the Iron Oni distracted, get close to them. Sagittarius-san, when Kyokuko-dono knocks the Iron Oni into that area, strike the machinery with your arrows."

"Yessirie," Sagittarius saluted in a different direction.

"Sonata is over here…," Happy mumbled.

"Then what?" Natsu whispered back.

Sonata smiled up at the pink-haired wizard. "You feast." Natsu didn't say anything; he just grinned in response.

"Is that the best you got, babe?" the group heard Kyokuko laugh, and they turned to see her disappearing and reappearing with her speed, making Gajeel's attacks ineffective.

"Go, Natsu-dono," Sonata pushed on his back. "And don't forget the earplugs."

"I thought I told you I've had enough of this bullshit," Gajeel growled. "If you wanna fight me, _fight me_!"

"You're so cute when you're mad," she reappeared momentarily to kiss Gajeel on the cheek before disappearing again.

"Damn you, woman!" he shouted, bringing his hand to the spot she kissed. Gajeel was thankful again for his blush-hiding scales. _Seriously, what's with this chick?_ He thought to himself.

"You better get ready, Gajeel," she said, appearing a few meters in front of him. "Because you've pissed me off and now you're going to see the _real_ power of a Sound Dragon. No more music; just pure power."

"Let's see what you got, girlie."

The Sound Dragon Slayer clapped her hands together and a sound wave burst from the impact and knocked Gajeel back slightly. While he was disoriented with trying to steady his footing, she ran towards him and threw a punch. "_Sound Dragon: Wailing Fist!"_ A cushion of sound waves emitted to protect Kyokuko's knuckles from colliding with the hard steel of Gajeel's armour. At collision, a burst of sound waves sent Gajeel flying back with a loud grunt.

Steadying his legs, he kept himself from falling back and stuck out his claw again. "_Iron Dragon Spear: Demon Logs!_"

"_Sound Dragon: Wave Wall!_" Clapping her hands together again, sound waves solidified in front of her, managing to block most of the spears that were flying towards her. The initial barrage broke the barrier and the final few spears went through and scratched Kyokuko's arms and cheek. She hissed as she brought her hand up to her cheek, swiping her thumb across the cut and pulling it away to see blood.

"_Sound Dragon: Screeching Blast!_" Kyokuko coiled her fingers together and struck at the ground with a powerful blow. The sound waves from the impact shot up and through the ground towards Gajeel, cracking the floor along the way.

Gajeel jumped up to avoid the attack. "_Iron Dragon: Club!_" he shouted, extending his transformed arm towards her at an alarming speed. Kyokuko managed to jump out of the way in time to avoid collision, but didn't notice a second club hurdling towards her. It struck her square in the guy, causing her to yelp out in pain as she fell back.

"Kyo!" Lucy cried out in horror.

Natsu bit the inside of his cheek, not wanting to yell and bring Gajeel's attention to him sneaking over to the machinery. _Come on, Kyo… _he thought to himself. _You've got this…_

The Sound Dragon Slayer staggered back up, her hand holding her sore stomach. In spite of her pain, she smiled at her opponent. "Not bad, Black Steel. You sure pack a punch."

"I'm just getting started, girlie," Gajeel smirked, readying his claws for another spear attack.

Kyokuko took notice to Natsu finally reaching his position next to the machinery. She could see from the look on his eyes that we was worried and eager to fight. _Might as well give him what he wants_, she thought before smiling. "Sorry Gajeel, but this ends now. _Sound Dragon…_" Kyokuko began, taking in a deep breath.

_A roar attack?_ Gajeel smirked to himself. _She thinks her dumb roar will-_

"_**BANSHEE SHRIEK!**_" From Kyokuko's mouth came the most powerful attack Gajeel had witnessed this battle. Not only did it seem to push him back, but he was completely immobilized.

"My…my body…," he growled, unable to move. "How are you doing this?" His memory flooded back to the scene he walked in on at the guild hall; everyone frozen in place. Edwin's voice appeared in his head: _"They screamed and then everyone was frozen."_

"I used this move on your guild the other day," she replied with a smile. "The shriek attacks your nerve system, cutting off your brain's control of your limbs. The amount of time it lasts depends on how much magic energy I put into the scream. This one won't last more than a minute, but that's all the time I'll need. _Sound Dragon: Boom Burst!_" she shouted again, rushing towards her enemy with sound waves building up around her. Upon impact, she sent Gajeel flying across the room, slamming into the opposite wall.

She whipped around to look at Sagittarius. "Now!" she shouted at the archer.

Gajeel opened his eyes after impact to see arrows flying towards him. They zoomed right past his head, hitting the electrical boxes behind him, causing a massive explosion. But the fire didn't last long. It was quickly consumed by Natsu, allowing him to regain his magic power.

"Finally… That was just what I needed…," he smirked to himself. "Kyo, Lucy – you two are the best." After giving the two girls a wink and a thumbs-up, he wasted no time turning to Gajeel.

"Alright, Natsu!" Kyokuko cheered. "Knock him dead!"

"You think eating some fire is going to help you?" Gajeel growled as he ran towards Natsu. "You're still not strong enough to pierce my armor!"

Natsu's fiery fist collided with Gajeel's chest, sending him crashing into a wall.

"You're going to regret everything you've done, Gajeel!" Natsu yelled, encompassed in flames. "Messing with my guild was a bad idea!"

"_Iron Dragon: Hard Fist!_" Gajeel shouted in response, throttling full speed towards Natsu with his fist leading the way. Colliding with Natsu's, the scales began to shatter.

"No way!" he growled in shock.

"_Flame Lotus: Iron Dragon Fist!"_ Natsu exclaimed, releasing a barrage of fiery punches at Gajeel. "Levy, Jet, Droy, Nab, Macao, Gamps, Erza, Lucy!" With his final punch, he sent Gajeel flying. "**And Kyo!**"

Everyone watched in awe at Natsu's performance. Gajeel was struggling keeping up, not being able to dodge the assault.

"Things are about to go south…," Kyokuko muttered. "You guys might wanna get out of here. Natsu's gonna-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Natsu destroyed the room they were in. She used her Speed of Sound to dodge all of the falling rubble and Happy and Sonata each held onto one of Lucy's arms, carrying her away to safety.

Finally landing on top of all the rubble next to Natsu, Kyokuko looked down to see a defeated Gajeel.

"There's…no way…you could've…beaten me…," he gasped out.

"Yeah?" Natsu panted. "Well I think I just did…" He collapsed but Kyokuko caught him, and helped him to the ground slowly.

"_We_ did," she smiled. "Thanks for that final blow, Natsu."

"No problem," he grinned. "Now I think…I'm gonna rest for now…" Natsu laid back in exhaustion.

Sitting on the ground next to him, Kyokuko gently stroked Natsu's hair. "You deserved it, Tsu-Tsu."

"Don't call me Tsu-Tsu," he grumbled before closing his eyes.

* * *

><p>As Natsu rested next to her, Kyokuko laid down on her stomach. Her elbows were propped up as her fingers entwined together, allowing her to rest her chin on top of them. She peered down to watch the defeated Gajeel Redfox trying to regain his breath after his battle. Now that he was taught a lesson, she could gawk all she wanted with. Kyo watched his chest rise and fall with each breath intently. "Oooh, what a hunk…," she whispered to herself, blushing.<p>

"You need some serious help, Kyo," Natsu mumbled, still making no attempts to move his sore body.

"Yeah, I need some help getting into his pants," she sighed happily.

Natsu shook his head and attempting to sit up. "Hey, Gajeel?" No response. "Gajeel can you hear me?"

"Nope," the two heard the Iron Dragon Slayer reply.

"Other than Kyo, I've never met another Dragon Slayer," Natsu said regardless of Gajeel's reply. "I wanted to ask how you learned it."

"Be quiet," Gajeel sighed, turning his head to the side and pouting slightly.

"Aw, come on!" Natsu whined. "Why do you have to be such an a-AAAHHH!" Natsu screamed as the piece of rubble he was standing on crumbled beneath him and sent him crashing down to Gajeel's level. Shaking her head, Kyokuko jumped down and helped pick Natsu up to his feet.

"The Iron Dragon Metalicana…," Gajeel grumbled loud enough for the others to hear and sat up, slightly facing away from them.

"Oh wow, really?" Kyokuko asked excitedly, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind him. She leaned her head over his shoulder and smiled. "We were trained by dragons too!"

"Get off of me, girlie," Gajeel grumbled, but didn't make any effort of pushing her off.

"Aw, come on," she pouted. "Don't be so cold. You already broke my favourite guitar."

"Where's Metalicana now?" Natsu asked.

Kyokuko saw Gajeel glance at Natsu before turning away. "Don't know."

"Come on, tell me!"

"I _said_ I don't –!"

"Boys, boys," Kyokuko sighed, cutting Gajeel off. "The fight's over. You guys can stop bickering like an old, married couple."

Both men looked at each other and then crossed their arms and turned away.

"Gajeel," Kyokuko's voice directly in his ear sent a chill down his spine. He liked the way his voice rolled off her tongue. "Did Metalicana just disappear one day?"

His eyes widened and he glanced at her from his peripheral and replied, "Yeah. How'd you know?"

She frowned and sighed. "Rhapsodia was my mother and best friend… She was so kind and loving but one day, without saying anything, she left…"

"Igneel too," Natsu added, sadly.

"Sounds about right," Gajeel muttered.

"Was it on the seventh of July, seven years ago?" Kyokuko asked. Gajeel nodded, eyes widening at the accurate date. "That's so weird…"

"He was a selfish asshole," Gajeel grumbled, looking off. "Who leaves their adopted kid in the middle of the woods without saying anything?"

Kyo rested her head on his shoulder. "Ya know… With all the dragons leaving at the same time, I don't think he had much of a choice…"

Gajeel felt her hot breath on his ear and neck and he was glad he was facing away from Natsu; lord knows the damn idiot would make fun of him for life if he was caught blushing.

"To be honest, I don't give a crap about what happened to him…"

"Just get the hell out of here," Natsu growled. _How could he not care?_ Natsu thought. _Metalicana was basically his dad._

Gajeel whipped around with bared teeth. "You're on _our_ turf you idiot! So _you_ get out of here!"

"Geez," Natsu picked himself up and dusted himself off. "You don't have to be so rude about it, you asshole." He started walking away from the two of them.

"Get out before I hurt you."

"You know," Natsu said turning around with a smile. "We're all Dragon Slayers, so we should have each other's back."

"Yeah fucking right," he hissed. "I don't need you. And once I see you again, I'm going to kick the shit out of you so bad –"

"Funny," Natsu smirked. "For being such a tough guy with me, you sure seem to have nothing to say about the girl around your neck right now. A girl that _also_ happened to kick your sorry ass."

"Shut the hell up!" he yelled, face turning red.

"I _was _gonna call a truce with you," Natsu crossed his arms. "Us being fellow Dragon Slayers and stuff. But since you've been so brutal, I'm thinking about calling it off."

"Excuse me? _You're_ the one who trashed our guild hall!"

"Um, _hello_?" Natsu shouted, pointing ahead. "Did you _see_ what you guys did to ours?"

"Natsu," Kyokuko said sharply, ending the argument. Natsu pouted and crossed his arms.

"Gihihi, looks like she's got you whipped huh?" Gajeel smirked.

Natsu was about to shout, but Kyokuko gave him a look and he stopped himself. "Natsu, go see if everyone's alright."

"What about you, Kyo?"

"I'll be right there; don't wait up."

Natsu smirked at her, seeing how she was still draped over Gajeel's shoulders, and walked off. "Whatever. Just no funny business okay?"

After Natsu left, Gajeel glanced at Kyokuko through the side of his eye. "What did he mean by _funny business_?"

She giggled, letting go of him and taking a seat in front of him. "Oh nothing. I just have a bad reputation when it comes to men."

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "No kidding. You were flirting with me the whole time."

Smirking, she inched closer to him and cupped his chin. Staring into his eyes she said, "Well, you don't seem to mind."

"What are you talking about?" he huffed, and she saw his cheeks becoming pink.

"Don't tell me you're the kind of guy that likes it when women dominate them?" she smirked. Gajeel could feel her thumb stroking the piercings under his lips. "You like to give off that Alpha Male persona."

"I _am_ an Alpha Male," Gajeel growled in return.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, inching closer. "You aren't pushing me away…"

Not knowing how to answer, Gajeel just stayed quiet and glanced away from her. When she let go of his chin he turned his whole head away. After a moment, his eyes were brought back to her when he felt her fingers brushing over his arm.

"What the hell are you doing, girlie?"

"Sorry…," she smiled at him, lightly blushing. "You're just… Really handsome." Yet again, Gajeel was at a loss for words and just sat quietly as his cheeks burned. Kyokuko just continued. "Yeah, I bug Natsu and Gray all the time but… You're different."

"Hmm?"

"Like, Natsu's got great abs. And Gray's pecs are phenomenal. And _don't_ get me started on that jerk, Laxus' arms…"

"You're losing me," he rolled his eyes, cutting her off before she continued to list men.

"But you… You've got everything," she smiled, looking over his body.

Gajeel's cheeks flared again and he turned away from her. "You're really forward, girlie…"

"How else am I supposed to get what I want?" she asked him as her fingers swept over his collar bone and down his chest.

"Why are you even here?" he asked, still looking away from her. "You guys won. What else do you want?"

"As I said, you broke my favourite guitar," she shrugged. "You owe me."

"I don't owe you shit, girlie…"

"Come on, you have to do something to make it up to me," she smiled at him.

"Nope."

Sitting on his lap, she wrapped her arms around his neck again. She knew how to get what she wanted from men, and considering how attractive she found Gajeel, she had no problem in toying with him. At the end of the day, Kyokuko knew all men fall victim to their libido. "Please…?" she asked as she pressed her lips against the crook of his neck.

"I…" _Her hot breath again… God damn it… _"What can I…do to make it up to you…?"

"Hmm…" she hummed, kissing from his collar bone to his jaw. "I don't know… What do you think?"

"Girlie…," he breathed sharply. "I don't know what your game is but it's not a safe one…" Sliding his hands down her sides, he added, "I'm a dangerous guy…"

"And I'm a big girl, Gajeel," she whispered in his ear. "I can take care of myself." Gajeel swallowed hard as that hot breath tickled his earlobe again. "So, have you come up with any ideas about how you can owe me back for breaking my guitar?"

As Gajeel's heart raced and he breathed in quickly, he was taking in her scent – under the smell of the rubble and sweat that clingged to her skin, he could smell juicy apples, cinnamon and that special dragon slayer aroma. He swallowed again to combat his watering mouth. This woman was driving him crazy…he couldn't believe he was lusting after a fairy.

Not being able to hold himself back anymore, Gajeel lifted her chin up and crashed his lips into hers. He felt her moan into him as her hands flew to his head, fingers tangling into his long hair. His sharp, dragon teeth grazed her bottom lip as he still held onto her chin; his other hand trailed up her tank top to feel the soft skin underneath. Her skin was still damp from sweat from their battle. When her lips stubbornly stayed closed, he moved his lips to her neck. As much as he hated that damn fairy stamp on her perfect, pale skin, he planned to use it to his advantage.

"Gajeel," she moaned softly. Excited by hearing his name escape her mouth in such an erotic voice, he sucked on her neck and nibbled hungrily. He received more lovely moans in response. Because of that black stamp, he could be as rough as he wanted and no one would see the bruising. Lying Kyokuko down, he got on top of her and continued to pleasure her with his lips. He moves from her neck to her collar bone and back up to her lips. Again, he asked for entrance as he lightly dug his teeth into her lip, and this time it was granted. Sliding his tongue into her mouth, he tasted her – a mixture of sweetness and spice, just like her scent.

When Gajeel finally pulled away to catch his breath, he looked down at Kyokuko and saw her breathing heavily from the kiss. "Are we even now?" he asked, looking down at her. She loved that rough sound to his voice, especially when he was out of breath.

"Yeah…," she replied softly, slightly light-headed from the exchange.

The way he smirked at her excited her. She almost asked for a second round when he abruptly got off her. "You better get back to your dumb guild… They'll come looking for you. Don't know what that dumb Salamander would do to me if he saw me on top of you like this."

"Yeah, Natsu's kinda defensive," she chuckled as she sat up.

"You two a thing or something?"

"I used to take care of him as a kid. I'm kinda like his big sister."

"And you still flirt with him?" Gajeel chuckled. "You've got some serious problems."

"I don't _flirt_ with him," she snapped. "I just let him know that he's got it going on." She pressed her hands against her cheeks. "Those lovely abs…" Kyokuko could hear Gajeel growl, so she smirked at him. "Is someone jealous?"

"Psh, no way," he rolled his eyes. "It's just the _thought_ of that idiot gets me angry."

"You keep telling yourself that, sexy," she smiled, gently kissing his lips as she stood up.

Gajeel stood with her, making sure she wouldn't pull away from him. Even though their lips parted, Gajeel had his forehead rested against Kyokuko's, hands placed on her waist. "You're something else, girlie…"

"Hmm?" Kyokuko hummed, looking up at him.

"Most girls are too scared to even approach me." Gajeel smirked to himself. "Maybe it's the piercings."

Smiling, she ran her finger across the metal rivets under his chin. "I like them."

"Really?"

Kyokyko finally pulled away and backed up a bit. "I've got a thing for studs," she answered with a smile, gesturing at her boots. "Try not to cause too much trouble. Hope I'll see you around, Gajeel."

He watched as she walked away – the way her hips swayed, the way her choppy hair bounced slightly with each step. He wished he could watch her approach to see if anything else bounced.

"Yeah…," he whispered to himself. "See ya, girlie…"

* * *

><p><strong>Kyokuko's Lulluby: <strong>_**Lon Lon Ranch**_

**Inspiration for Round 2 of Kyokuko VS Gajeel: **_**Warrior**_

**Inspiration for Gajeel "owning back" Kyokuko (U/u/U): **_**Animals**_** (This is another example of one of those songs I didn't realize became a single until after I went to look it up for the playlist. ._.)**

**Playlist linked in profile description. Reviews appreciated.**

**Let's see if I can get back to NaNoWriMo now -_-;;**


	6. Reminisce

**I apologize in advance; this chapter is a fucking mess…**

* * *

><p>"Kyokuko-dono!" Sonata cheered as she saw her friend approach from the distance. The cat flew towards her, leather vest in hand. "I forgot to give you back your vest!"<p>

"Aw, Sonata…," Kyokuko smiled as she put the vest on. "You're so cute when you speak in first person!" she cried happily as she squeezed her small, cat companion to her chest.

"Took you long enough," Natsu said with a frown, his arms folded behind his head. "What was the hold up? I thought he was holding you hostage and I had to go back and knock some more sense into him."

"No, nothing like that," she chuckled. "He broke my guitar, so I wouldn't leave until he owed be back."

"Owed you back?" Gray repeated with a cocked eyebrow and crossed arms.

Pressing her hands against her cheeks, Kyokuko blushed. "I'm surprised how much I enjoyed the taste of steel…"

"You're sick," Natsu and Gray said in unison.

"I sure am," she sighed happily. "I've caught the love bug."

The two rivals sighed and shook their heads. However, they exchanged a knowing look. If Kyokuko was _really_ in love with this guy, maybe they'll finally catch a break. Natsu wasn't happy about who it was, though. He'd prefer anyone else over Gajeel – even Laxus.

* * *

><p><strong>The next day<strong>

* * *

><p>Poor Lucy was home trying to recuperate from her experiences with Phantom Lord – particularly Gajeel's torture. In between helping everyone rebuild the guild hall, Kyokuko would go and visit Lucy in order to take care of her. This was her third visit of the day.<p>

"Hey Luce," Kyokuko smiled softly as she entered Lucy's room. She was sitting at her desk, writing what Kyokuko assumed was the novel she's heard of. "You hungry? I brought you a lunch box."

Lucy turned and smiled at Kyokuko. "Thanks Kyo. You really don't have to do all this." Lucy attempted to stand up from her chair, but she moved a certain muscle wrong and it caused her to yelp in pain and fall. Kyokuko was able to catch her in time thanks to Speed of Sound.

"I think I do," Kyokuko looked down at Lucy as she picked her up, supporting her with one arm at her back and one under her knees. Her face was still twisted in a pained look, and she rested her head against Kyokuko's chest. "You don't need to be afraid to ask for help, Lucy. I _want_ to help you. You're part of Fairy Tail, so you're part of my family." The Sound Dragon Slayer carefully carried Lucy's sore body to the dining table gently sat her down in the chair. "Now come on; I made these lunch boxes so we could eat together."

Before she sat down across from Lucy, Kyokuko broke Lucy's chopsticks so she wouldn't have to push herself unnecessarily. Clapping her hands together in front of her face, she lowered her head and said "Thank you for the meal". Lucy did the same, and the two began to eat their lunches.

"Wow, this is really good, Kyo," Lucy exclaimed with a smile.

Kyokuko rubbed her neck bashfully with her free hand. "Really? You like it?"

"I haven't had a home cooked meal this good in a while; probably since I ran away from the estate," she continued, still smiling. "I never would have pegged you as a cook, though."

Kyokuko chuckled. "I taught myself how to cook after Rhapsodia left. She used to always take care of me and we lived off the land for the most part, so I never had to learn how to do things like that." She smiled to herself and poked at her rice with her chopsticks. "To be honest, I might have never bothered if I didn't want to take care of Natsu."

"Natsu?" Lucy echoed after swallowing some food.

"I lived in the East Woods with Rhapsodia before she disappeared; she left on the seventh, and I joined Fairy Tail on the eighth," Kyokuko explained, her eyes looking up and to the corner as she tried to remember more details. "Not long after, this sweet, little boy joined the guild. He had a big personality and an even bigger heart."

"Yup, sounds like Natsu alright."

"As soon as he walked in, I could smell it on him; the scent of a Dragon Slayer. I took a liking to him right away; he was so cute." Lucy could see that the smile currently on Kyokuko's face was one of complete, unconditional love. The same type of smile she used to see on her mother. It warmed Lucy's heart. "That huge grin on his face when he walked around the guild hall, inspecting it… Heh. And the first time he laid eyes on Gray, the two of them were instantly at each other's throats. He had so much charisma and charm for such a little guy. But I could tell he felt all alone…"

* * *

><p><em>Kyokuko walked out to make her way home and saw him there; the cute, little kid that just joined Fairy Tail. He was sitting by the riverside in the rain; hunched over, holding his knees to his chest. She could hear faint crying as he whispered to himself: "Igneel… I miss you…"<em>

"_Hey, Natsu right?" she asked with a soft smile, approaching from behind him._

_The young Dragon Slayer whipped around, wiping his eyes quickly. "Wh-what do you want?"_

_Taking a seat beside him, she grinned at the boy. "Aw, you don't have to act tough for me, kid. I heard you crying."_

"_Was not!" Natsu pouted, crossing his arms and turning away with his pursed lips and furrowed brow._

_Chuckling, Kyokuko wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him towards her, allowing him to rest his head on her chest. "You're such a cutie."_

"_Am not…"_

"_So Igneel was the name of your Dragon, huh?" she asked softly._

_Natsu's eyes widened and he shot up to look at her. "How did you –"_

_He was cut off when she placed her index finger to his lips. "It's okay to admit it. I miss my Dragon too, Natsu."_

_The look of shock on the young boy's face instantly transitioned to the adorable grin that Kyokuko fell in love with. "You're a Dragon Slayer too?"_

_With a squeal, she pulled him into a tight hug. "You are __**so**__ cute!" Natsu gasped for air and Kyokuko worriedly let go, muttering an apology. "But yeah," she began, pinching his cheek, causing Natsu to pout once more. "I'm a Dragon Slayer too."_

"_Cool! What kind of Dragon trained you? Do you know what happened? When did they leave? Do you know where they went? Maybe Igneel's with them."_

"_Natsu," she began softly, cutting off the boy's onslaught of questions. "I'm not sure where they went… But I feel like us meeting is destiny. I was worried I'd be all alone but… now I have you. And now there's no reason to cry, little guy. I'll be here for you. And you'll be here for me." The two Dragon Slayers exchanged grins. "My cute, little brother." Once more, she pulled him into a hug._

"_Stop calling me cute…," Natsu pouted._

"_But you're so adorable!"_

* * *

><p>"I felt it in my heart that it was my responsibility to take care of him," Kyokuko explained. "I taught him how to read, I cooked for him, made sure he brushed his teeth and took plenty of baths. I helped him with his Dragon Slayer magic. And in turn, he provided me with something I thought I would never have after Rhapsodia left me: love."<p>

"So don't you think it's kind of creepy when you hit on him?" Lucy chuckled.

"I'm not stupid, Lucy," she rolled her eyes. To be honest, Kyokuko was getting annoyed at this question every time she explained her relationship with Natsu. "I've watched Natsu grow from a cute little kid to a handsome young man." Kyokuko placed a hand over her heart. "Even though what I feel for him in here is unconditional, I like to tease him and let him know he's attractive. It's just in my personality to applaud attractive men. A hot guy is a hot guy. I'll look; I don't care. It's not like we're actually related. But still, I'd never consider pursuing him as anything more than a friend." She smiled slyly at the Celestial Wizard. "So you don't have to worry about me stealing him away from you."

With that comment, Lucy chocked slightly on her food and coughed. As she reached for her glass of water and downed it to clear her throat, Kyokuko laughed.

"What the hell, Kyo?" Lucy shouted after she stopped coughing. Her face was bright red; a mixture of the effects from her coughing fit and her embarrassment. Kyo continued to smirk at the girl as she babbled about how wrong she was and how there were no feelings for Natsu and blah blah blah. "Natsu and I are just friends! He brought me to Fairy Tail so, I don't know, I guess he's the person I'm closest too? Not that I'm not close to the others. It's just, Natsu was my first partner and he helped show me the ropes and he always looks after me. Well, Erza and Gray look after me too… And so do you. So see? There's nothing between me and Natsu. We're just teammates and friends."

The Sound Dragon Slayer wiped her mouth with her napkin and set down her chopsticks, having finished her meal during Lucy's rambling. "Mhmm," she smiled. "Sure. Whatever you say."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucy shouted; her cheeks puffed and her brows furrowed in anger.

"If I had a drink for every time you said his name or smiled at him, I think I'd outdrink Cana." Kyo paused and rubbed her chin, glancing up in thought. "Maybe I'd even die of alcohol poisoning…"

"_Not_ true!"

"_Natsuuuu_~!" Kyo said in a high pitched voice in an attempt to imitate Lucy's. She pressed her hands to her cheeks, saying "You're _so strong_, Natsu~!" and then puckered her lips. "You always save me Natsu~! You're my _heroooo~!_"

"Shut up, shut up, _shut up!_" Lucy cried out as Kyokuko made kissy sounds. Her face was a deep red by this point.

"If it's any consolation, you get the Honorary Big Sister Stamp of Approval," Kyo chuckled, giving Lucy a wink. Before Lucy could yell back, Kyokuko stood up from the table. "Anyway, I should get back to helping the others with the guild hall. I'll be back again tonight, alright?"

"Thank you for all your help, Kyokuko," Lucy smiled at her. "You really don't have to do all this for me."

"I _want_ to," she replied, walking towards the door. "See you later; don't push yourself, Luce."

* * *

><p>Her friends smiled as they watched Kyokuko return to the worksite.<p>

"How was Lucy?" Natsu asked with his signature grin. Kyokuko could see the worry in his eyes despite his smile.

She smiled slyly at him. "Your girlfriend is doing fine, Tsu-Tsu."

His face suddenly turned the same shade as his hair, caused by the combination of his embarrassing nickname and the suggestion of a relationship. "Wh-what?" he screeched. Gray chuckled as Natsu chased after Kyokuko, spitting fire angrily out of his mouth. "Take that back! Lucy and I are just friends! I brought her to Fairy Tail, so of course she and I are close! Well, I'm close to all of you guys too… But she was my first partner, so we're…" As he babbled on, Kyokuko giggled to herself. They were so made for each other; they even made the same points when arguing. "And don't call me Tsu-Tsu!"

"What are you doing playing around?" Erza's sudden, threatening tone stopped Natsu in his tracks. He spun around with a look of terror plastered on his face, wide eyes meeting the furrowed brow of the S-Class wizard. "Get back to work!"

"A-aye!" Natsu shouted before running back to the pile of lumber. Kyokuko's arms wrapped around her stomach as she laughed at Natsu's dramatic change in temperament. The pink-haired boy shot her a glare as he walked back, carrying a few four-by-fours on his shoulders.

"How is Lucy doing?" Erza asked, turning towards the Sound Dragon Slayer. Her eyes softened as she spoke, her voice laced with concern.

She grimaced and shook her head side to side slightly. "Well, I guess as good as you _can_ be after being beaten with a metal club like a human piñata," Kyo replied. "She's sore, but she's making an effort to move around and do stuff. I told her she needs to stop and just rest. If she'll heed my warning, I don't know. After we're done building for the day, I'm going to bring her some dinner and help her bathe and dress for bed."

"It's very nice of you to do all of that for her," Erza smiled at her older teammate.

"She'd do the same for me," Kyokuko said. "And I know we'd both help each other as well."

With a nod and a soft smile, Erza thought back to the battle with Phantom Lord and how Kyokuko carried her to safety. Even further back, she remembered the disaster of an S-Class mission where Kyokuko had defended her when she was backed into a corner. Erza was younger and less experienced back then; although stronger than her partner, she was in a rough spot after they separated. If Kyokuko hadn't snapped that day, she probably wouldn't be alive right now to scold the Ice Make wizard and Fire Dragon Slayer who were currently arguing instead of working.

"What did I say about slacking off?" Erza growled at the two, shooting a menacing glare their way. Erza heard Kyokuko giggle again as the two boys jumped in fear and scurried back to work.

"Well," Kyokuko began, slinging a four by four over her shoulders. "The Guild's not gonna rebuild itself." She grinned at Erza who returned the gesture with a smile before picking up a piece of lumber herself.

* * *

><p>The sky had begun to grow dark as Kyokuko approached Lucy's home, bags of groceries in hand. She had purchased everything she needed in order to make dinner as well as prep for a few meals for tomorrow. Placing one of the bags at her feet, she turned the doorknob and entered.<p>

"Lucy, I'm back," she called out with a grin.

Lucy was lying down on her bed in some comfortable clothes, pressing some ice to her ribs. She looked towards the Sound Dragon Slayer with a small smile. "Hey, Kyo."

"Oh good, you're using the ice-pack I brought you. How are you feeling?" she asked, setting her bags onto the counter in the kitchen.

"The swelling is going down," Lucy replied, lifting her shirt slightly to reveal her largest bruise. She winced when she saw it. "It's so ugly, though…"

Kyokuko chuckled, placing the produce she bought into the fridge. "Yeah, bruises aren't the nicest looking things. It'll fade in time. But hey, it beats scarring, right?"

Lucy hummed to herself as she lowered her shirt again. "I guess you're right…" Her eyebrow cocked up when she heard a chopping sound from the kitchen. Slowly lifting herself out of her bed with a groan, she slowly made her way to her kitchen. There, she saw Kyokuko at the counter next to the sink, chopping vegetables. Using the counter as a support, she approached her. "Whatcha doing?"

Kyokuko looked over her shoulder at the blonde. "I thought I told you not to push yourself. Go lie down."

"I'm sick of lying down," Lucy whined. "What are you doing?"

"Prepping some food dinner," she replied, not bothering to argue with the stubborn Celestial wizard. "I bought some stuff with vitamins that can help with the healing process."

Lucy smiled at her as she turned back to her cutting board. Green bell peppers, tomatoes, onions and some garlic were prepped to be cut. Lucy came to the conclusion it was going to be a salad. "Anything I can do to help?"

Kyokuko sighed. "You're not gonna take no for an answer so…" She hummed to herself as she thought of what job she could give to Lucy. Finally deciding on prepping the pots for the broth and noodles she was planning on making. Lucy smiled, glad to be of help, and went ahead to start her job.

After some time, the two sat at the table with the food that Kyokuko had prepared; ramen noodles with chicken breast and a salad made of the veggies that Kyo had chopped up earlier. After giving their thanks, the two girls began to eat.

"Thanks again, Kyo," Lucy said with a smile. "I love your cooking."

Kyokuko grinned back at the blonde. "My pleasure; I'm glad I can cook for someone who appreciates it. I don't know if it'll help, but I made the salad with veggies that have a lot of Vitamin C; I heard it's good for helping with healing bruises because it makes your blood vessels stronger or something."

"You're the best," the blonde beamed at her guild mate. "You put so much thought into this, all on my behalf."

The Sound Dragon Slayer rubbed the back of her neck bashfully. "I'm nothing special; I just wanna help out. If the others could do this stuff, I'm sure they would too."

The two girls finished their meal and then spent some time enjoying each other's company. Kyokuko asked about Lucy's alleged novel, to which Lucy embarrassingly admitted to writing one, although she wasn't really sure about her abilities.

"I like to read too, believe it or not," Kyo said as she washed the dishes from dinner. Lucy seemed someone surprised by this. Kyokuko laughed at the confused gasp that left the blonde's mouth. "Yeah, I like novels and stuff, but I also like poetry. I write music, ya know, so being articulate helps."

The Celestial wizard smiled at her friend. "I guess you have a point there," she replied. "How many instruments can you play?"

"Tons," Kyo answered. "I've been taught how to play instruments by Rhapsodia since…" The Dragon Slayer paused. "I don't have a single memory in which I _wasn't_ playing music, to be honest. I'm better at some more than others, obviously, but I have a general knowledge on a bunch of things. Skills on certain instruments are transferable. Like, I'm not the best at woodwinds, but I know the embouchure, and that's the most important thing. Like, the difference between playing a clarinet and a saxophone – the hard part is how to move your mouth. If you've got that down, then all you need to do is remember fingerings. The same with strings; once you've got the skill down, it's just a matter of knowing the notes to play. That being said, I still prefer guitar; it's my specialty." Kyokuko sighed heavily. "But… I guess until I can make enough extra Jewel, I won't be able to replace my broken electric guitar…"

Lucy frowned slightly at her friend. "You do have a place to stay, right?"

"Mirajane let me crash at her place for a bit," she answered. "I need to raise enough money to find my own place. I've got my eyes set on one kinda like this one. Eighty thousand, but it's still cheaper than Fairy Hills. And the money I save on rent I'll put towards a new guitar."

"How much will that cost?"

Kyokuko groaned and sat down in a chair. "The cheapest higher quality guitars start around… Fourty, fifthy thou…? I've seen some go as high as four hundred and fifty thousand."

Lucy grimaced at the price. "Well… Two months and you'll save enough for a basic…," she said, trying to force a smile and sound optimistic.

"I might have to cave and buy a crappy ten thousand one so I'll have _something_," Kyo shrugged and sighed. "Damn Gajeel… Breaking my favourite guitar…"

The Celestial wizard let out a soft chuckle. "And you _still_ made out with him."

Kyokuko leaned her cheek against her fist and sighed happily. "Hell yeah I did…" She closed her eyes and smiled to herself. "The things I'd do to that man… Mmm, mmm, _mmm_. _So_ fine." Lucy simply shook her head and laughed softly at her friend's behaviour. "Anyway, it's getting late, Luce. Want me to help you take a bath and then get ready for bed?"

"You don't mind, do you? " Lucy asked with a small blush creeping on her cheeks. "I mean, it's kind of weird to ask someone to help me take a bath…"

The Dragon Slayer rolled her eyes with a smile. "Don't be an idiot; of course I don't mind. How else are you going to get in and out of the tub in the state you're in? We're both girls; nothing to be shy about. Besides, you're _way_ hotter than I am so you don't have to be embarrassed about your body." Kyokuko stood up from her chair and extended her arm for Lucy to grab onto for support.

Blushing deeper, Lucy took hold of the arm and lifted herself up out of her chair. "I'm not, really…"

"Psh," Kyo scoffed as she guided the bruised blonde towards the bathroom. "No need to be modest."

After the two entered the bathroom, Kyokuko helped Lucy out of her clothes; the blonde sat on a stool under the showerhead as Kyo lathered her hair in shampoo for her and Lucy took care of cleaning her body with soap.

"Natsu never really talks about his experiences with Igneel," Lucy said as she enjoyed the feeling of Kyokuko's fingers combing through her wet hair. "What was it like being raised by a dragon?"

"Well, Rhapsodia was all I really had for fourteen years," she answered, leaning Lucy's head back slightly so that the water could wash away the shampoo. "She found me abandoned as a baby and took me in. She taught me magic and how to fight. She taught me the gift of music. She loved me unconditionally and cared for me with every fibre of her being. She gave me so much even though I gave her nothing in return. She was kind, strong, and beautiful. When I close my eyes, I can still see her in front of me. Long, slender body of shiny black scales… A feathery mane, like long, flowing hair and a feather-tipped tail that she used to tickle me with. Beautiful eyes like sparkling rubies. Big wings she would use to provide shade and shelter. A gentle smile… She had the most gently, melodic voice I've ever heard in my entire life, and I'd give _anything_ to hear it again…

"She was really wonderful about not wanting me to grow up with zero human contact, so after she taught me how to speak, she would send me into town. I lived in the East Forest, right outside Magnolia, so I would travel down and interact with people. I would come down with a violin and perform on the street for money and then I'd use the Jewel to buy food and sometimes toys. Rhapsodia had taught me that this was how humans got what they needed. They performed work – in my case, entertainment – for money, and then that would be traded for goods. I remember her telling me, '_One day, I won't be here anymore. You will have to find work so that you can support yourself when I no longer can. With your skills, you could help people as a part of a guild. I truly believe you will find much happiness in that. There is a famous guild in the town you visit. They are a rowdy bunch, but they have good hearts. I'd be very glad if you chose a guild like that._'

"So when she disappeared when I was fourteen, I wandered back into Magnolia. I had seen the large building on my many visits into town and heard a lot about its reputation. Master Makarov was very kind to me; he told me that it was for people like me that Fairy Tail existed – so that children who had nothing could find themselves a home and a family. And after Rhapsodia left, Fairy Tail became my family. When she left me, she also left a void in my heart that no one could fill. But I found many people who helped me get through those hard times."

After Lucy was free of soap, Kyokuko assisted her in moving to the tub of warm water.

"Natsu was the one who helped me most, I think. And I like to believe I helped him too. We understood each other's situation more than anyone else did. Understood that emptiness from losing the one thing that mattered to you; being thrown into the world all alone with only the skills they had taught you. Many in Fairy Tail have gone through great loss, but Natsu and I were on the same level. We had never met another person with our magic beforehand; we helped each other hone those skills taught to us by our parents. Natsu is a great gift. Sure, he's reckless and loud and hard-headed, but he has such a big heart. And I am so blessed to have him in my life."

Lucy watched as Kyokuko wiped a stray tear from her cheek and smiled at her. She was glad she had this chance to learn a little more about Kyo. Her true colour really shined through in these one-on-ones she had throughout the day. With each layer of her tough-looking exterior being peeled back, Lucy got a better look at the woman Kyokuko was deep inside. Muscle obsessions and sass aside, Lucy could tell that Kyokuko took on those qualities she spoke of in her mentor and best friend – she was kind and had a huge heart. The Celestial wizard smiled to herself and hoped that she would learn even more about this wonderful woman who went out of her way to help her the whole day, and maybe she too could develop some of those wonderful qualities.

* * *

><p><strong>I did some research into guitar prices in Yen, which is the most comparable currency to Jewel, and the cheapest Fenders or Gibsons started around 40-50k yen ._. That's about $430USD, but the Fairy Tail wikia compares 100 Jewel to $1USD, so I guess that would make the guitars ~$500USD. I've seen Gibsons start around that price so I GUESS IT'S ALL GOOD.<strong>

**HEY. SORRY FOR THE SHITTY CHAPTER. I JUST WANNA GET BACK TO MY DORKLY LITTLE IRON DRAGON SLAYER. I actually would write ahead whenever I lacked inspiration for this… I did enjoy writing a little bit about Kyo's past with her dragon though… **

**ANYWAY SORRY. IT WILL GET BETTER.**

**COOL?**

**COOL.**

**LATER DAYS**


	7. With Open Arms

**Wanted to get this out a bit sooner, but Pokémon has taken over my life. I got caught up inleveling up my Aron named Gajeel to take on the 3****rd**** and 4****th**** gym… ANYWAY. Who's ready for the return of the cutest little dork? One chapter is too long to be away from sweet little iron bae =3**

**Thank you to all the favs/follows since the last chapter; and a special thank you to the guest who reviewed multiple times!**

**Some time has passed between last chapter and this chapter; it's taking place during the Tower Of Heaven Arc.**

* * *

><p>Gajeel sighed loudly as he bit into a piece of scrap metal. Things had gone south quick after that fight with Fairy Tail. It didn't take long for the Magic Council to disband Phantom Lord. To be honest, he never really <em>cared<em> about being a part of that guild. It was a place for him to find work. Now work was slim and he had to live by eating scraps of metal in a junkyard. What an embarrassment. What a joke Phantom Lord was… The battle with Fairy Tail showed that even with powerhouses like him and the Element Four, the rest of the guild was filled with nobodies.

Fairy Tail… What they lacked in strength they made up in spirit. That drive to fight to protect each other was the nail in his coffin. That girl was right; you couldn't keep Fairy Tail down. That girl…

The Iron Dragon Slayer shook his head as if to knock the thought of her out.

He felt like an idiot; he couldn't stop thinking about her. That intoxicating smell and beautiful moan… Her swaying hips that fit so well in his hands… Perfect, pale skin tainted by that damn guild stamp… Growling to himself, he knocked his palm against his forehead a few times. _Stop thinking about her…_

That moment they shared was a one-time thing, and he needed to wrap his mind around that. Thinking about her would just make things more complicated. They were enemies – he destroyed her guild hall, attacked her guild mates, kidnapped and beat one of her closest friends, abused her while she was in no position to fight back. There was no way he could show his face around her again without Salamander there to rip him a new one, not to mention the rest of that guild. It wasn't meant to be.

"_I have a thing for studs."_ Her giggle echoed though his mind as he grazed the piercings on one of his arms with the other. He angrily bit into another piece of steel. He had fucked up. Where was he going to find another girl like that? A girl that found him that attractive despite his threatening disposition… She was one in a million. No, not even that. They broke the mold on her.

"Hey there," a gentle, old voice called out, breaking Gajeel from his thoughts. He turned his head over his shoulder to see a short, old man. Blinking a few times, his eyes suddenly widened when he recognized him.

"M-Master Makarov?" he gasped, fully turning to face him.

"How are you holding up, my boy?" Makarov asked, attempting to climb the scrap heap with difficulty.

"First, I'm not _your boy_. Second, why are you here? You want to make fun of me or something?" the Iron Dragon Slayer spat. "Let's laugh at Black Steel Gajeel; how the mighty have fallen."

The old master groaned as he continued to climb up to where Gajeel was seated. "Quite the friendly one, aren't you?" It took a few moments for him to finally climb all the way up to the top. Catching his breath, Makarov continued. "Your old friend, Juvia of the Element Four, has recently joined our guild."

Gajeel's brow cocked up in confusion, as if saying _and you're telling me this __**why**__?_

"She seemed to be concerned about you. She consoled in me, telling me she worries for your wellbeing."

Scoffing, Gajeel tossed the piece of metal he was eating. "She's not the sharpest tool in the shed, is she…?"

"I wouldn't say that," Makarov shrugged. "She has a plan for her next move. Can you say that about yourself, Gajeel?"

Grimacing, he turned around again to face away from the old man. "Not sure yet. Keeping my options open."

Master Makarov sighed heavily and shook his head. "Let me ask you a question."

Shrugging, Gajeel merely replied with a simple _shoot_ without even turning around to face the man who was talking to him.

"Thinking back on everything that's happened, what were your personal reasons for going to war with Fairy Tail? What did you think of your old guild? Or being in a guild? What did you want to do with your strength?"

The Iron Dragon Slayer sighed, glancing over his shoulder to quickly look at Makarov before turning around again. "That was more than one question, old man."

"At the end of it, they're all the same thing: what kind of man are you?" Makarov added, stepping towards him. "Some would think that you followed Jose's orders senselessly, like a puppet. But I don't think that's the type of man you are; you're not mindless, Gajeel."

Gajeel shut his eyes tight and frowned. "Just shut the hell up and get out of here."

"There is no reason for you to give up and plunge into the darkness, Gajeel." Makarov stepped closer, resting his hand on Gajeel's shoulder. "Step into the light and join Fairy Tail. I understand the benefits of keeping some time to oneself but… Total isolation is a fate no one should endure."

"I trashed your guild hall," Gajeel replied flatly, staring off in front of him.

"We've rebuilt it. Damages like that are merely cosmetic."

"I hurt your _children_."

"Yes. An act I will never fully forgive." The sudden harshness in the old man's voice made the hairs on Gajeel's neck stand on end. "But, if I just idly stand by and watch you plunge into darkness…that is also something I would never be able to forgive. So I am willing to give you a chance, Gajeel." The Iron Dragon Slayer's shoulders shook and his lips trembled, holding in a sob. Gajeel bit down on his lip to prevent it from escaping. "I cannot promise that you will fully redeem yourself to me or the guild, but I will do everything in my power to show you the right path. So what do you choose, Gajeel? Will you continue down the road of darkness, or take my hand and step into the light?"

Turning around to see the outstretched hand, Gajeel froze in shock before slowly lifting his hand to grab the kind-hearted old man's.

* * *

><p>"Welcome to Fairy Tail," Makarov said with a large smile as he and the soon-to-be newest member arrived at the front door.<p>

Gajeel looked up at the newly rebuilt building with wide-eyes. "Looks like you've…expanded."

Makarov beamed with pride at his new guild hall. "That we have; the construction has just finished the other day. Everyone put in a lot of time and effort, and it has paid off if I do say so myself."

"_That's the thing about these __**damn fairies**__,"_ the girl's voice sounded in his head. _"You can knock us down as many times as you want. But we just come back stronger."_

Gajeel smiled to himself slightly. One good thing: he'll be able to see her again. The Dragon Slayer followed Master Makarov into the guild hall and suddenly, all eyes were fixed on him. Furrowed brows, filled with anger and confusion. The glares made Gajeel uncomfortable, so he looked down at the ground to avoid their stares. He continued to follow the short, old man until they were interrupted by a shout.

"What's _he_ doing here?" a voice spat. Gajeel looked up to see one of the three he had ambushed; the one with the stupid hat. The fragile, blue-haired girl hid behind him, peeking out to observe. The final of the three stood next to him, glaring as well.

"Gajeel is in need of work, and I – a man of good faith – put my trust in him. As the guild's Master, my judgement on this is absolute: Gajeel, starting today, will become a Fairy Tail wizard."

An eruption of protests sounded out throughout the hall. Gajeel knew this would happen. It was an awful idea to accept this stupid idea.

As Gajeel was about to turn around and leave, Master Makarov grew into his giant form, eyes glowing with rage. "I said that my judgement is absolute. You will not argue with me on this. Gajeel has come here to seek redemption and I am going to provide him the chance to receive it." Witnessing their Master's rage, the guild hall silenced itself.

Shrinking back to his normal size, Makarov asked Gajeel to continue following him. He reluctantly agreed, still feeling the heated glares of every eye in the building. Makarov held in his hand the guild stamp, and asked Gajeel where he would like it placed. He briefly considered the same spot and colour as his old one, but decided against it. This was a new start. Instead, he chose the opposite arm in black. The same colour as hers.

After receiving his stamp and Makarov's congratulations, Gajeel scanned the guild hall for her. Eyes scanning back and forth a few times, he finally spotted her; she was seated on the second floor. He could see that her eyes were closed and she had noise cancelling headphones on. As Gajeel approached, he could see she had drumsticks in her hands and was seated at a table playing a practice drum set, probably to the music she was listening to. Gajeel smiled to himself, seeing her so carefree and in her own element.

Making his way towards her, he was stopped by a cat, flying towards him and blocking his path. Gajeel raised his eyebrow at the strange cat with outspread arms. He then recognized her as the cat that revived Kyokuko during their fight with her flute.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear, Iron Oni," the cat spoke with furrowed brows and bared fangs in an attempt to be threatening despite her tiny stature. "Kyokuko-dono means everything to me, and if you do _anything_ to hurt her, I will not hesitate in striking you down." Sonata drew her flute, and it suddenly turned into a small, cat-sized katana with the power of her magic.

Gajeel smiled at the cat; at least, he attempted to. His smiles always came across as sneers or smirks. He raised his arm to pet the black and white cat on the head. "I wouldn't even _think_ about hurting her again, cat. Don't worry about that."

Sonata watched him carefully for a moment as if gauging his sincerity. She then smiled and flew back towards her friend. Following the cat, Gajeel took notice to Kyokuko's actions. She was bobbing her head to whatever music she was listening to as she "played" the drums. Her lips were moving, as if she were silently singing the song as well.

"It's best for you to not disturb her," Sonata told Gajeel as she floated around him. "Last time Natsu-dono tried, she ended up getting startled and almost poked out his eye with the drum stick. Allow me; I know how to handle her."

"Gihihi," he smirked. "Dumb Salamander got it coming. Everyone knows you don't interrupt a musician hard at work."

"Iron Oni- Er… I mean, Gajeel-dono," Sonata corrected herself. She had a smile on her face as her tail twitched happily. "Let us surprise Kyokuko-dono with your presence."

He glanced at her in confusion as she attempted to push his large frame back behind Kyokuko. With a soft chuckle, Gajeel moved to where she wanted him and watched as Sonata gently landed on Kyokuko's head. Used to the action, Kyokuko didn't react until Sonata tugged on her headphones; this was their sign that Sonata wanted her attention. Suddenly, the drum sticks and practice pad disappeared – due to her Requip magic, Gajeel assumed – as well as her headphones.

"What's up, Sonata?" he heard her ask.

"Fairy Tail has a new member. I wanted to introduce them to you," Sonata explained; though she was looking down at her companion, she twitched her tail in a way to call Gajeel over.

As Gajeel made his way to them, he heard their conversation continue. "It's so cute that you speak in first person now. Wait a sec," Kyokuko added with confusion. "That's weird. You've never really cared about new members before. You seriously interrupted my jam time for that?" He could tell from her tone that she was pouting.

"Gihihi," Gajeel chuckled, crossing his arms as he stood directly behind her. "Looks like you're holding up well, girlie."

Hearing the familiar laugh, Kyokuko whipped her head around. Sonata was thrown off Kyokuko's head by the speed of her turn, but she steadied herself by summoning her wings and floating in place. "No way!" the Sound Dragon Slayer gasped, jumping up from her chair with a huge smile on her face. She immediately took notice to the dark Fairy Tail stamp below his shoulder. "Never thought I'd see the day Gajeel joined Fairy Tail." She playfully punched his bicep with a smirk.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I'm not here because I want to; I'm here because finding work is tough. Your Master went looking for me and asked me to join."

"Good ol' Master Makarov," Kyokuko said, still smiling. "Always a good Samaritan." She grabbed his hand suddenly, causing Gajeel's cheeks to flush slightly, and dragged him down to the café. Either she was unaware of the stares or just chose to ignore them, but the entire guild was looking at the two Dragon Slayers in confusion, anger, or a mixture of the two. The saying _if looks could kill_ instantly came to Gajeel's mind.

"Sonata," Kyokuko called out to her companion as she trailed behind. "Reserve a table for us, please."

"As you wish, Kyokuko-dono, _nya_," she replied and changed her route to find a table.

Still holding onto Gajeel's hand, the Sound Dragon Slayer continued on her path to the main bar where Mirajane was currently working. The white-haired barmaid was turned around, cleaning glasses and mugs, and didn't notice the two arrive.

"Hey, Mira," Kyokuko called out with a grin.

"Hello Kyo, how are yo-" Mirajane turned to face her, and when she saw Gajeel standing next to her she gasped and dropped the glass she was holding, causing it to shatter against the floor.

Sighing, Kyokuko hopped over the bar like she was vaulting over it and assisted Mirajane in collecting the broken shards. "Seriously, you're such a klutz. How did you even manage that?" It was clear to Gajeel that Kyokuko was completely unaware that it was his presence that caused the white-haired woman to drop the glass.

"My hands were wet from the dishwater," Mira laughed nervously, picking up on that obliviousness as well. As Kyo continued to pick up the broken glass, Mirajane looked at the ex-Phantom Lord wizard with a cautious stare. Noticing her eyes, Gajeel turned his head slightly to look away, arms crossed over his chest. As if his defeat didn't make him feel pathetic enough, his discomfort at all these glares made him feel so strangely insecure that it drove him crazy.

"All done," Kyokuko announced, disposing the shards and hopping back over the bar to stand next to Gajeel again.

"Thank you, Kyo," Mirajane smiled sweetly. "You didn't have to clean up my mess for me."

"Knowing you, you would have just cut your fingers on the glass," she replied jokingly, smirking at the barmaid.

"What can I get for you?"

"My usual, please. Oh, and a fish for Sonata," Kyo replied. She turned to Gajeel. "What do you want?"

"Huh?" Gajeel turned his head back to look down at her after he realized she was speaking to him. "Um. I don't know. I don't really want anything."

Rolling her eyes, Kyo turned to Mirajane. "And a beer for Mr. Indecisive."

"But I –"

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes again and grabbed his hand. "We'll be over there where Sonata's sitting, alright Mira?"

"Yup, sure thing, Kyo," Mira called out after her as she dragged Gajeel away. Watching the Two Dragon Slayers walk away – or rather, watching the one Dragon Slayer being pulled away by the other – a sly grin played on the barmaid's lips. Turned around to work on their order, she continued to grin to herself, finding it cute how the man who tore down their guild hall was so easily controlled by Kyokuko.

Kyokuko requested – actually, demanded – Gajeel to sit down at the table that her Exceed companion reserved for them. After he sat down without any struggle, she took the seat opposite to him and propped an elbow on the table to allow her chin to rest in her open palm. "So other than the whole _Phantom Lord being disbanded and not having any work_ thing, how've you been?" she asked with a kind smile.

Gajeel shrugged and looked away from her, but he realized that once he averted his eyes from her, he met the glares of the guild hall. Feeling that making eye contact with the girl was a better alternative, he brought his eyes to her once more, finally answering. "Not bad," he lied. "It'll be nice to get some work, even if it means I'm a member of this stupid guild."

"This _stupid guild_ kicked your sorry ass, buddy," Kyokuko said in a teasing tone, a grin spread across her face. "_And_ it accepted you with open arms even after what you've done."

"Speak for yourself…," he muttered his response, lowering his eyes to the table.

Finally looking around, Kyokuko noticed the glares. She sighed and shook her head. "Yeah, might take a while for these guys to warm up to you."

"Understatement of the century," Gajeel retorted with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey, don't be sassy," Kyo pouted, reaching her free hand over to smack his arm that was rested on the table. "That's my shtick."

"Well it's nice to see you two getting along in spite of everything that's happened," the sweet voice of Mirajane interrupted the conversation as she carried a tray to their table. "Here you go. A fish for Sonata-"

"_Nya~!_" Sonata cheered, grabbing the fish from the tray.

"A beer for Gajeel."

Gajeel muttered a _thank you_ as he took the mug from the tray as well.

"And your usual espresso and cheesecake, Kyo."

"Thanks, Mira," she grinned, taking her items from the barmaid. "The cake looks great."

"If you three need anything else, let me know," Mirajane smiled, turning away to walk back to the bar with the empty tray in hand. As soon as they couldn't see her or hear her, she smiled to herself with a slight squeal. They were to be her next project.

She glanced back at the table; Sonata was happily munching on the fish that was given to her as the two Dragon Slayers spoke. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she saw Kyokuko offer Gajeel a piece of her cake, leaning over the table to feed it to him off the fork. _So cute~!_ Mira thought to herself as Gajeel looked away in embarrassment, rejecting the dessert. Kyo puffed her cheeks out, said a quick word – which Mirajane guessed was _fine_ – before she brought the fork back to her mouth to eat the cake. _Adorable~!_ She squealed internally again as she returned to the bar.

Back at the table, Kyokuko pouted before sipping her espresso. "I'm never going to offer you any more of my cake."

"I don't want your stupid cake, girlie," Gajeel said with a roll of his eyes. "I didn't even want this damn beer." Despite the statement, he lifted the mug up to his lips and took a gulp.

"Hey, how about we go take on a mission together?" she suggested with a smile.

Gajeel coughed, chocking on his beer by the unexpected question. After clearing his throat, he set down the mug and eyed Kyokuko with a cocked eyebrow. "You want to go on a mission with me?"

"Yeah. Why not?"

"What about Salamander and the blondie and whoever else in this dumb guild you partner with?"

Kyokuko shrugged and leaned back in her chair. "Natsu and them went on a vacation so I've been pretty bored."

"They went on vacation without you?" he asked before taking another sip of his beer.

"They offered; I just didn't feel like going," she explained with another shrug. She folded her arms behind her neck. "To be honest, now that Loke is Lucy's newest Celestial Spirit, I don't really feeling like teaming up with them that much anymore." Kyokuko noticed Gajeel's confused stare. "You've met Loke. Orange hair, sunglasses, green jacket. Turns out he was a Celestial Spirit this whole time."

"Oh yeah, the playboy guy," he nodded. He was about to say _he tried to rescue the blondie from me_, but he decided against it. "That explains why he smelled so weird. What's he to you anyway? Why do you want to avoid him?"

"Loke and I used to be a thing." Gajeel felt a twinge in his stomach when she said those words for some reason. "Looking back, I have no idea why. He's so scrawny…" Kyokuko frowned to herself. "But he was the skirt chaser, and I was the man-eater, so Mirajane thought it would be a smart idea to try to pair us together. _It'll be so sweet if you two fall in love and give up your old ways_," she imitated Mirajane's voice with a high pitch. "For a while it was great, but he wasn't my type. It didn't last more than a year, to Mirajane's distaste. It wasn't a messy break up or anything. I just like to avoid him when I can since he still tries to flirt with me." Kyokuko sat back up straight to face Gajeel. "But I digress. Do you want to team up or what?"

"Um," Gajeel began, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess that's fine with me?"

"You don't seem so sure."

"I usually like to work solo," he shrugged.

"_Snooooore_." Kyo faked a yawn and waved her free hand in front of her mouth to dramatize the statement.

"Shut up, girlie," he snapped back, slapping his hand on the table. The sudden sound caused the guild hall to collectively turn and cautiously watch him, afraid he was going to start something. "I was the strongest member of Phantom Lord; I didn't _need_ to be on a team."

"It's certainly an ego boost to know I kicked your ass then," Kyo smirked back, twirling the espresso in her mug absently before she finished it off.

"You needed _two_ Dragon Slayers to take me down," Gajeel replied with his own cocky smirk, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest as if to display dominance.

Kyokuko shook her head in amusement, still smirking in a teasing way at the Iron Dragon Slayer. "If memory serves, I was giving you a run for your money. Had I not got distracted by the destruction of my guild hall, leaving an opening for you to _so rudely_ smash my face into the pavement, I would've been able to take you down by myself."

"Yeah, but Salamander fought me before you did. So there!" His eyebrows raised in shock after fully registering what she said before his eyes narrowed. "And _you_ pushed my face in the rubble _first_!"

"You were a cheating bastard and ate iron in the middle of the fight, so you were back to full power! Doesn't count!" she spat back. "And _you_ broke my favourite guitar!"

Sonata sighed to herself as she looked down at the fish bones in front of her, wishing she had another delectable snack to enjoy while the two Dragon Slayers bickered like an old, married couple. The argument between the two caused the rest of the guild to watch warily.

"You want a rematch then?" Gajeel growled, standing up from the table.

Kyokuko smiled and stood up as well. "I'm always up for a fight. Let's take this outside though; I don't want to trash the guild." A collective sigh of relief escaped the mouths of everyone in the hall. Though brawls weren't uncommon, a battle between two Dragon Slayers was sure to cause massive damage to their newly rebuilt guild hall.

"Fine by me, girlie," Gajeel shrugged. "You pick the place."

Stepping around the table, Kyokuko began to walk towards the door. "Follow me," she instructed with a wave of her hand.

Sonata was the first to respond to the instruction, flying from the table to land on Kyokuko's head. Gajeel watched her walk away for a moment, once again taking notice to the way her full hips swayed with every step. Swallowing hard, he attempted to shake the thoughts from his head before following her. It was a failed attempt.

His eyes gazed at her body from behind the whole way. _Damn it, she's hotter than I remembered…_ he thought to himself. Her jeans were tight, clinging to her legs. Gajeel wondered how he hadn't noticed how toned her legs were until now; her arms were more obvious as they're always exposed. It was clear she kept in shape. Strange for a woman; female mages usually just rely on magic and neglect their bodies. Not like Gajeel was complaining.

The small group of three stopped at a large clearing. Gajeel watched as Kyokuko slid off her vest and handed it to Sonata. With her back turned to him, he was able to see the definition in her back and shoulder blades.

"Alright, some ground rules," she started, turning around. "No eating."

"Not like there's anything for me to eat out here anyway," he grumbled.

"A word to the wise, I wouldn't yell as much as you do during battle; the sound waves re-energize me," she explained. "I have no control over it so try to keep your big trap shut."

"And none of that Speed of Sound, Banshee Shriek bullshit," he added with furrowed brows.

"Fair enough," she smirked. "Winner chooses loser's punishment."

"What?" Gajeel barked back in confusion. "I didn't agree to that."

Kyokuko's smirk grew larger. "What's wrong, Black Steel? Afraid of some punishment?"

He merely grinned back at her in response. "No, I'd just feel bad about punishing you _after_ brutally kicking your ass."

Sonata sighed and flew above the two Dragon Slayers. "When you two are finished," she began. "Please take your fighting stances."

Gajeel had braced his legs and had his fists up, ready to pounce as soon as given the signal. In contrast to his rigid stance, Kyokuko hopped up and down, shaking her arms at her sides to loosen up and tossed her head from side to side and shrugged to loosen up the muscles in her neck and shoulders. Sonata took notice to their different preparations. The element of iron was one of solidity and power, whereas sound is fluid and encompassing. Even without her Speed of Sound, Kyokuko could feel vibrations in the air and weave herself around attacks as if she were dancing. That's all sound truly was after all – vibrations moving through a medium. And when Sonata had shouted _begin_, the _woosh_ of Gajeel's quick but powerful assault as his _Iron Dragon: Club_ shot towards Kyokuko created enough vibration for her to glide out of the way in time.

Her hand shot forward, gripping the iron club. "_Sound Dragon: Vicious Vibrato_," she said as her focused sound waves shot out through her palm and sent powerful vibrations through Gajeel's iron appendage and into his body, causing him to groan in pain and grip his head with his free hand.

His arm retracted back as he glared at the girl. She merely smirked back and hoped between her feet as she put of her fists. One fist unclenched and beckoned him forward with waggling fingers. "Come on, I know you've got more than that."

As Gajeel lunged forward with a low growl, doing his best not to make too much noise, Kyokuko was shocked and impressed by how fast he was. He had thrown such a quick punch at her that she wasn't able to block it. His clenched fist collided with her cheek in a sharp hook, knocking her back into a nearby tree. Rubbing her cheek, Kyo opened her mouth and moved her jaw up, down, left, and right to ensure there wasn't any real damage.

"Nice hook; even without magic you're pretty strong," she noted, pushing herself off the tree. "And you're fast for such a big guy."

Another _woosh_ of an approaching threat tipped Kyokuko off early enough for her to jump up, barely dodging the iron club that slammed into the tree behind her. Landing on top of the club, she ran towards Gajeel quickly, her right hand balled up into a fist and pulled back. "_Sound Dragon: Wailing Fist!_" she shouted as the sound waves built up around her fist as she threw it forward, colliding with Gajeel's face. With a grunt, he stammered back but quickly regained his composure to block a second, non-magical punch from her left fist by catching it in his hand. He could tell from the force it made with his palm that it would have been sure to have broken his nose if he didn't block it.

"You're not too bad yourself, girlie," he said with a smirk. Kyokuko's right hand shot forward, hooking him in the jaw. The shock of the landed attack made Gajeel let go of her, and she jumped back.

She winced as massaged her sore knuckles. "Damn, you sure got a hard head, Black Steel…" she groaned.

"Gihihi," he chuckled. His right arm turned into an iron lance, and he held it forward. "_Iron Dragon Lance: Demon Logs!_" A barrage of pointed, iron spikes sprang toward Kyokuko with quick speed.

She frowned in worry and quickly clapped her hands together, shouting "_Sound Dragon: Wave Wall!_" as her sound waves solidified into a barrier in front of her. Before his attack ended, she balled up a fist and punched the ground below her. "_Sound Dragon: Screeching Blast!_" This time, as the sound waves travelled through the ground beneath them, Gajeel wasn't able to react in time since he was in mid-attack and was sent flying back. Without wasting her opening, she screamed "_Sound Dragon: Propulsion Pulse!_" as sound waves formed at her feet, sending her flying forward at high speed. "_Sound Dragon: Wailing Fist!_" Gajeel let out a loud grunt as her powerful sound blast-enforced fist collided with his gut. Kyokuko stood a few feet away from Gajeel who lay on the ground. She panted heavily, bent over with her hands supported against her knees.

To her dismay, Gajeel stood up. He was breathing a bit heavy, but he pulled his arm back. "_Iron Dragon: Club!_" The iron weapon propelled towards her and she knew she wouldn't be able to dodge it in time, so all she could do was brace herself for the hit by holding her hands out in front of her. As it hit, it proved too strong for her and she was knocked back with a pained yelp.

As she lay on the ground, she breathed in heavily and groaned. "Uncle, uncle…" Sonata cried out her name as she flew to Kyokuko's side. Kyo assured her she was fine and just a bit sore and tired.

With a deep breath, Gajeel stepped forward and extended his hand to Kyokuko. "Not bad, girlie. You're a lot stronger than you look." Kyo smiled up at him, taking his hand, and the Iron Dragon Slayer pulled her up with ease. Gajeel smirked down at her after she stood on her feet and dusted herself off. "Now about your punishment…"

She sighed and kissed her teeth. "Damn, I thought you might have forgotten about that…"

Gajeel laughed with his usual _gihihi_. "You're not weaseling yourself out of this; you're the one who made the bet."

"Yeah, yeah," she groaned with a dismissive wave. "Just choose and get on with it."

He brought a hand up to his chin and rubbed it pensively. "No, give me some time. I need to make sure it's a good one." He hummed to himself as his eyes looked up and to the left as he thought. His mouth opened slightly with an _oh_ and he smirked down at Kyo. "Since I'm new to Magnolia, you've gotta let me live with you until I find a place of my own. Free of charge."

"_What_?" Kyokuko screeched. "No way! I'm not letting you live with me!"

"Uh, uh, uh," Gajeel said as his smirk grew larger at her clear frustration. "We had a deal, remember?"

"An honourable warrior never goes back on their word, Kyokuko-dono," Sonata said, flying above the Sound Dragon Slayer's head.

"Yeah," Gajeel said crossing his arms triumphantly. "What the cat said."

"Whatever," Kyo rolled her eyes. "You're helping with chores and food expenses. And if you take more than a month to find your own place, you're paying rent. No exceptions or I swear to god, I'll castrate you in your sleep." Gajeel merely chuckled at her and agreed to her terms. "Good; let's get your stuff and go then."

"Don't got any."

She slapped her palm to her forehead with a groan. "We'll stop by the town and get you some necessities. If you don't have money, you'll owe me back after."

* * *

><p><strong>Song I imagine Kyokuko practicing on the drums: <strong>_**Almost Easy**_** [Not only do I **_**really**_** like the drums in this song, I felt it connected with Gajeel in a way like…He's guilty for the things that he's done, and he still has that darkness inside of him but deep inside him he's not a bad guy. idk level with me here I just rly like the song guys]**

**Inspiration for the fight: **_**Guerrilla Radio**_** [I really like the vibe of this song. Tbh I listen to this song a lot when I'm thinking of fight scenes]**


	8. Put My Trust In You

**Gosh, it's been over a month! I'm so sorry DX I work in a large warehouse seasonally, and – as you could guess – Christmas is the busiest season so I've been working a butt-ton and had zero time to write.**

**Again, big thanks to all new follows and favourites, and a special thanks to those who go out of their way to review. I appreciate it so much!**

**WHO'S READY FOR 'MOVING INTO THE APARTMENT' FLUFF? I AAAAAAAAAM. (It's not total fluff. There's some stuff like emotional development and shizz. Just read on! :D)**

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><p>The two Dragon Slayers walked through the streets of Magnolia; one held onto bags with a bored expression and the other eyed a hastily written list on a scrap of paper. The latter's Exceed companion cheerfully flew behind them, playing a happy tune on her flute. She was promised a fresh fish if she went along for the errands without complaining, so she was in a good mood.<p>

"Let's see… So we've got your toothbrush," Kyokuko muttered as she ran her finger down her list, stating objects as she past them. "Hairbrush, soap and shampoo, pajamas, socks, unmentionables…" She heard Gajeel let out a _gihihi_ when she avoided the use of the term; she felt extremely awkward in the men's store, helping a grown man shop for underwear and she knew he wouldn't let her live it down. It was hilarious to him that she could be so bashful about it despite being a huge pervert. "I guess you need some clothes or something…"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" Gajeel spat back defensively.

"Yeah, having _one set_ of clothing is sure to go _great_ for you," the Sound Dragon slayer retorted with a roll of her eyes. "At least buy some comfy clothes for around the house or something. I have a feeling we're going to have to wash those clothes of yours on the daily, so you'll need something to wear in the meantime."

"You saying I stink or something, girlie?"

"Yeah, I am," she glanced over her shoulder with a smirk as she heard Gajeel growl at her. Her eyebrows flew up in realization as her eyes widened. "Damn, you'll need deodorant. And probably some sort of spray. I'm not letting you stink up my apartment with your rust rank." Ignoring Gajeel's glare, Kyokuko looked over her shoulder and down the street, contemplating where to go to buy the items. She didn't want to walk all the way back to the pharmacy where they bought the other toiletries, but there wasn't much other choice. With a loud groan, she grabbed onto the Iron Dragon Slayer's wrist and dragged him back up the road. "…making me look like an idiot… Walking back in when we were just there twenty minutes ago…"

Gajeel smirked as the girl muttered to herself. He took notice to the light pink that rose to her cheeks as they passed the store that sold men's underwear and lounge wear that they were in earlier and chuckled at her discomfort. Living with her might not be so bad if she were always so amusing.

* * *

><p>"You know I'm not a pack mule, right?" Gajeel grumbled as he carried all the bags, apart from one small bag of groceries that was in Kyokuko's hand. Sonata was also sound asleep on top of his head, much to his confusion.<p>

"Shut up, Rivet Face," she replied, digging into her pocket to pull out a keychain with a plain, silver house key attached. "Your shit, your problem."

"I didn't even want all this stuff!"

"Yeah, well you _need_ it, so stop being a little bitch about it and man up," she rolled her eyes. "We're here anyway."

Gajeel looked up at the pale, gray two-story apartment with a black-tiled roof, letting out an impressed whistle. "You get this place all to yourself?"

"Not anymore," Kyokuko replied as she slid the key into the door and opened it. She gestured with a jerk of her head for Gajeel to enter before she followed behind him and closed the door. Gajeel glanced around the foyer, noticing the hall closet and the doorway that led to the rest of the apartment. As he stepped forward, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "Uh, uh, uh," Kyo said with a smile. "No shoes. You're not scuffing my floor with those boots."

Kyokuko was proud of her home; she didn't get the 80,000 Jewel one she wanted, but she was happy with this even with the higher price of 90,000 Jewel. To be honest, it was a steal for this price. The main living space has this calming cool-toned gray wallpapering with a couch, coffee-table, and fireplace and connected to the kitchen. There were also two separate bedrooms which she was now thankful of, considering her unwanted houseguest.

Gajeel took notice to the gym equipment in the corner large living room space along the longer, back wall; dumbbells that were too small for him and a metal bar. There was also a cushy yoga mat as well. Along the same back wall was a record player on top of a shelf filled with records, a piano, and a guitar case which, gauging by its size, housed an acoustic guitar. Perpendicular to the record player was a desk under a small window, and next to the desk was a large bookshelf that took up most of that smaller wall until it led to a doorway. Staff paper was scattered all over the desk along with regular lined paper with words and doodles all over it.

"Follow me," Kyokuko said with a smile after the two took off their boots. She led him through the living room, though a doorway next to the bookshelf that led to a small hallway. At one end there was a small door, and the opposite end led to a staircase. The second floor of the apartment building had a hallway with two rooms on each side. "Your room is going to be the one all the way at the end on the left," she said pointing in the direction. "Across from your room is the toilet and the sink; you can put your toothbrush in the cup there. The bathroom is the door right next to it; it's got a shower and a tub. And next to your room is my room." Gajeel followed her down the hall carrying the bags as she opened the last door. Walking in, he saw the bare room with a decent sized bed – double, he assumed – a dresser and a door to what he assumed to be a small closet in the corner. There was a window covered by closed thick, black curtains that did a very good job of blocking out the sunlight. "Make yourself at home and unpack; I'm gonna get started on dinner, okay?" Gajeel merely grunted as a response and the Sound Dragon Slayer took her leave.

Forgetting about the cat currently perched on his head, Gajeel bent down to pick up the bags he placed on the floor when he walked in, causing Sonata to fall off and land softly in the bag of clothes. The Exceed let out a soft _nya_, rubbing her eyes as Gajeel picked her up. "Sorry about that, cat," he said to her as he placed her on top of his bed. She walked over to the pillow, patting it down before she rested against it, continuing her cat nap. Gajeel smiled to himself at the soft sound of Sonata's purring as he began to unpack the things that Kyokuko had forced him to get.

He messily tossed in his underwear in the top drawer of the dresser, not caring if they got wrinkled. In contrast, he opened the second drawer and carefully tucked away the lounge wear – sweatpants and a couple of t-shirts and tank tops. The sweater he got was too big, so he decided to make that the sole item of his small closet; after placing it on a hanger and closing the door, he plopped onto his bed. Gajeel let out a tired sigh; shopping was boring and exhausting. As he folded his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, he silently hoped to himself that food would be ready soon.

Sonata had crept over to him after Gajeel's less-than-graceful drop onto the bed woke her up. She crawled on top of him, curled herself into a ball, and nuzzled her face into the Iron Dragon Slayer's chest. Though at first confused by the cat's sudden fondness towards him since they left the guild hall, Gajeel smiled to himself as he moved a hand from behind his head to stroke Sonata's head as she purred affectionately. _Maybe it __**would**__ be nice living here… _he thought to himself as Sonata's relaxing purrs coaxed him into closing his eyes and drifting off.

* * *

><p>Kyokuko stretched with her arms above her head as she walked over to her record player. Squatting down to inspect her record collection, she picked one up and blew off the dust. Setting it in the player, she set down the pin and turned it on to hear instruments start. Smiling, she walked over to the kitchen to begin with dinner. She took a sauce pan, added oil and a few cloves of garlic and set it to simmer on her stove. The whole time she worked, she swayed her head back and forth to the music with a smile on her face. After added tomatoes to the sauce pan, she prepared her larger pot with water and salt and set it to boil.<p>

_Let's dance to the song they're playing on the radio,_ the sound of the accented vocalist sang out from the record player. _Let's sway…_

Kyokuko hummed as she opened her cupboard to pull out the bag of pasta. "_If you say run, I'll run with you_," she sang along as she eyed the bags before deciding on one. "_If you say hide, we'll hide._" Choosing a bag, she returned to her stove. "_Because my love for you would break my heart in two…_"

She put in her pasta to the boiling water and mixed some meat into the sauce, swaying her hips to the song. It was her favourite thing to cook while listening to music; singing and dancing and just having an enjoyable time while she prepared a meal. It always made her happier when she knew she'd be cooking for someone else. She hoped Gajeel would like her cooking.

As she taste-tested the sauce, her thoughts drifted to the handsome man who was now occupying her spare bedroom. She really did hope they could go on a few missions together; maybe even become permanent partners. If they did become partners, Kyokuko thought, it would probably be okay for him to live with her, so long as he pays rent. Sonata seemed to have warmed up to him rather quickly, which was strange for her. She was usually very reclusive except with her, Natsu, Happy, and – from time to time – even Lucy. Everyone else she was indifferent to. She always was respectful to everyone, but she didn't really talk to them or necessarily went out of her way to be in their presence. But the last time Kyokuko saw her little cat companion, she was fast asleep on Gajeel's head.

"And if he does stay," Kyokuko mused to herself with a sly grin. "I get to look at him _all the time_…" She swooned slightly at the thought of him lounging around shirtless, or even him coming out of the bathroom with only a towel around his waist. Her face got so hot she was surprised she wasn't blowing steam out of her nose in excitement. She let out a squeal as she pressed her hands to her cheeks, feeling the warmth from her blush.

Slapping her cheeks to regain her composure, she turned back to her stove and tested if the pasta was cooked. Satisfied with the perfect amount of softness, she took the pot off the stove and drained it into a colander. After she mixed the pasta into the sauce in the pan, she set the large pot aside.

"Perfect," she smiled to herself. She walked out of the kitchen and made her way up the stairs towards the bedrooms. Standing in front of the door of the once unoccupied, spare bedroom, she knocked against it. "Gajeel? Dinner's ready."

Gajeel must have fallen asleep, Kyokuko thought, since he didn't respond to her rapping against the door. Slowly opening it, she smiled widely at what she saw: the big, bad Black Steel Gajeel sound asleep, snuggling with her cat companion. "Too cute," she squealed to herself. Her squeak woke up the two on the bed; Sonata's ears perked up and she stretched as a _nya_ sound escaped her yawning mouth. Gajeel groaned as he groggily sat up, causing the Exceed to softly slide down his abdomen and land soundly in his lap, where she wasted no time in curling up again to continue sleeping.

As Gajeel rubbed his tired eyes with his hand, Kyokuko giggled as she walked over and picked up Sonata from his lap. "Have a nice nap?" Gajeel merely made an affirmative _hmm_ sound that Kyo took as a yes. _Aw, he's kinda cute like this when he's not all brooding and pouty_, she thought as she continued smiling. Looking down at the sleeping cat in her arms, she leaned down to whisper in her ear. "There's a fish waiting for you." Sonata's eyes sprang open and her ears perked up in excitement. Prying herself out of Kyokuko's arms, Sonata flew out the open door and down the hall and stairwell to the kitchen, squealing in delight the whole way. Shaking her head, Kyokuko chuckled at the cat's excitement whenever fish was involved.

She turned back to look at Gajeel, who had lied back down and seemed to be halfway to dreamland once more. "Up and at 'em, hot stuff. Food's ready," she said, grabbing the hands that were sprawled at his sides and pulling him back into a seated position.

Gajeel swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand after he pulled it out of her grasp. "Yeah, yeah, I'm comin', girlie…" With a grunt, he stood up from the bed and followed Kyokuko out of his room and back down the stairs. Gajeel rubbed the sleep from his eyes once more to distract himself from the swaying hips of his new roommate.

When the two Dragon Slayers entered the kitchen-dining room area, Sonata was already seated at the table, munching on a fish with a content look on her face. Kyokuko gestured to the table with a tilt of her head, wordlessly instructing Gajeel to take his seat. He complied in silence as well.

He eyed Kyokuko as she pulled two bowls from the cupboard and filled them with pasta, topping off the plate with round, sauce-soaked meat balls. As she set one of the plates in front of him, she asked "What do you want to drink? Is beer okay?" Gajeel shrugged and she walked back to her fridge, pulling out a bottle of beer and what looked like a cooler. Walking back to the table, she brought the neck of the beer up to her mouth and popped the bottle cap off with her teeth and then slid it across the table towards Gajeel. He caught the bottle in his hand and lifted it up to take a drink as Kyokuko opened her cooler the same way she did the beer.

As the Sound Dragon Slayer set her drink onto the table and walked towards her record player, Gajeel appreciated the natural flow of what was going on at the moment. It didn't feel like he was an unwanted houseguest. It just felt like they were longtime roommates.

The sound of trumpets filled the room as Kyokuko walked back and sat down. Gajeel raised his eyebrow at her. "You like jazz?"

"I like pretty much everything," she replied with a smile. "Why, do you?"

"It's alright," he admitted, poking a fork into his plate as he twirled the pasta onto it. "There was this nice place back in Oak Town that had a live jazz band. I would go sometimes."

Kyokuko smiled at him after she swallowed the food in her mouth. "Oh, that little café? I went in there before I scared the shit out of your old guild mates."

"Gihihi," Gajeel smirked. "Yeah. That's the place." He paused, looking down at his plate and then looked back up at her. "You're…different from all the other fairies."

She hummed in confusion as she chewed on more food.

"They're not as…," Gajeel paused again, searching for the right word. "_Cut-throat_, if you'll excuse the lame pun."

A soft _heh_ escaped Kyokuko's lips as she smirked at her new roommate. "I'm only like that when people mess with my family. I was pissed off about what you did to my guild hall. And that asshole spat in my face and basically declared that all of my friends would be killed. He had it coming."

The two sat in silence as they ate. Gajeel had nothing more to add to the topic, and he'd rather not address his past crimes against his new guild and roommate.

"I was thinking," Kyokuko said suddenly, breaking the silence. "If we team up, we might as well be roomies, right? I need to save up for a new guitar, so splitting the rent would really help with that. If you don't mind, that is."

Gajeel raised his eyebrow at her. "Seriously? You want me to live here with you?"

"If you pay the rent, I don't mind. I mean, I had the spare room anyway. Might as well put it to use. I'd rather someone I know live here with me and not rent it out to a random person just to save money on rent."

He smirked. "I get a free month here since I won that fight," he replied. "After that, I'll pay half. No problem. It'll be less of a hassle having to look around town for a new place."

Kyokuko rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You're still paying for food expenses during that first month."

"I already said I would," Gajeel replied with a soft chuckle. He felt his cheeks burn slightly when Kyokuko looked up at him with a cute smile on her face. Coughing and looking down at his food to avoid eye contact, he poked slightly at his plate. "The…um…food's good…"

Kyo's smile widened to a large grin. "Really? You mean it?"

_Why does she have to look so cute? _he thought to himself as he tried to suppress the burning feeling on his face. "Yeah. It's great. All I've had to eat for a while is iron, and don't get me wrong, that shit's delicious, but it's good to have a real meal again."

Sonata – having finished her meal – looked between the two Dragon Slayers. She smiled to herself watching her closest friend grin at their new houseguest. He seemed shy about the situation despite his best efforts to look disinterested or tough, which made Sonata know she made the right choice in trusting this man she once referred to as _oni_. Cats had a sixth sense about this stuff; he was a nice guy deep down. He would let her sit on his head and cuddle with him without any objections. His rusty smell was kind of funny, but underneath it, he had this subtle bitter-sweet smell that reminded her of espresso beans.

"I can't believe _you_ listen to jazz," Kyo giggled. "You seem more like a heavy metal kind of guy."

Gajeel rolled his eyes at her. "Haha. Very funny."

"You don't like metal?" she asked as she stood up from the table and walked towards her record player. "Metal is so great. It gives me so much energy. So intense. But it can also be solemn. It's such a lovely genre." She squat down to observe her record collection. Silently eyeing the vinyl, she finally pulled one out and blew off the dust before she switched it with the other record on the player.

As she placed the needle to the record, loud drum beats emitted from the player and she passionately drummed the air. Her mouth imitated the sounds of the beating drums as she did so and Gajeel watched with a smile. When the guitars came in strong, she shifted to an eccentric air guitar while thrashing her head around. "Isn't this great?" she asked before the singer began with his scream-like vocals.

Gajeel found himself tapping his foot to the downbeat as well. "I never said I didn't like metal. I just meant it was dumb that you would make that guess about me since I'm the _Iron_ Dragon Slayer."

Kyokuko blinked a few times before bonking her forehead with her palm. "Oh, _right_. I totally didn't mean it like that. You just _actually_ seem like a metal type of guy – oh, _oh_! Dude! Listen to this bass line." Kyokuko said enthusiastically before she pretended to pluck bass strings in the air. It didn't last more than a few seconds until the guitars came back in. "God damn, I love that part."

Gajeel let out a soft chuckle as he watched Kyo gush over the music. She was so animated and passionate about it. It made him smile seeing her carefree and in her element, much like when she was drumming back at the guild hall.

The Sound Dragon Slayer let out a soft yawn as she stretched her arms over her head. Gajeel's eyes focused on the part of her shirt that was rising up, revealing her stomach, but he quickly looked up at her face when he noticed what he was doing. "Man, I'm tired…" she muttered, rubbing on of her eyes.

Glancing over his shoulder to look at a clock on the wall, Gajeel nodded. "It's getting kind of late."

The two Dragon Slayers turned to look at Sonata when they heard her yawn with a soft mew. She had curled up in a ball on the table. Kyokuko smiled at her and gently picked her up. "Time for bed, huh?" Sonata glanced up at Kyo with sleepy eyes before closing them and resting her head against Kyo's chest. Kyokuko let out a small chuckle. "I'll take that as a yes. Gajeel, mind moving the dishes to the sink while I bring Sonata to bed?"

"Sure, no problem," he replied as he started to collect the dirty plates from the table. Bringing them over to the sink, Gajeel decided that he might as well clean them. He _did_ promise Kyo that he would help out with housework, so he might as well start now. It didn't take him long to clean up the two plates, and after he finished, he closed all the lights and made his way upstairs towards his bedroom.

After quickly changing into his pajamas, he exited his room and headed towards the restroom so that he could prep for bed. Knocking against the door, he was greeted with Kyo's muffled voice saying, "Come in."

Gajeel opened the door and walked in to see her at the sink, brushing her teeth. She still hadn't changed into her pajamas, but her hair was held back with a large clip and a small towel was hung around her neck.

Glancing at him in the mirror, Kyokuko sidestepped to give him room. _He isn't wearing a shirt_, she inwardly swooned. _Bless! This arrangement is already paying off for me._

After spitting into the sink as Gajeel prepped his toothbrush, Kyo backed away from the sink. She smiled at the Iron Dragon Slayer. "Good night, Gajeel."

"Night," he grunted back before bringing the toothbrush to his mouth.

* * *

><p>Gajeel groaned as he regained consciousness, rubbing a balled up fist to his eyes to rub the sleep from them. Reaching to his bedside table, he grabbed the clock and brought it to his face to read the time. 7:18. Sighing, he placed the clock back down.<p>

_Might as well take a shower_, he thought to himself as he sat up and swung his legs off the side of the bed. Gajeel stretched his arms above his head with a soft groan as he walked towards his door. He closed his door behind him as he walked to the bathroom, but as his hand was about to touch the doorknob, he stopped. _Crap, I'll need towels…_

Gajeel turned around to face Kyokuko's door. He frowned to himself, not wanting to disturb her, but he just wanted to get his shower over with. Slowly turning the doorknob to make as little sound as possible, he opened the door slightly and peaked in.

Kyokuko was fast asleep on her bed. Gajeel blushed as he noticed her tiny pajama shorts and loose spaghetti strap shirt. Her sheets were sprawled around her, barely covering her, and she had her legs and arms wrapped around a large, body pillow. He felt a bit of jealousy towards the inanimate object but soon shook the thought from his mind.

He quietly stepped into her room; she had the same faux-leather curtains that blocked out the sun as he did in his room. On her nightstand, there was a small record player. Next to it was a small cat-bed for Sonata, who was slowly waking up. Once opening her eyes, she quickly took notice to the Dragon Slayer and her eyes widened. Quickly, she flew up and tried to push him out of the room.

Gajeel complied with her actions since she couldn't physically move him, and as they stepped out, she closed the door behind her with her tail. "Gajeel-dono," she whispered to him. "Please, do not disturb Kyokuko-dono while she is asleep."

"Rough riser?" Gajeel chuckled.

"I do not wish to wake her since she has difficulty falling asleep at night."

"Sorry, cat…," Gajeel mumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I just wanted to ask her where the towels are; I wanted to shower."

Sonata smiled at the Iron Dragon Slayer and tugged on his arm in order to lead him to the restroom. Opposite to the sink was a large cabinet he didn't remember noticing last night when he brushed his teeth. The Exceed opened the cabinet, presenting the folded towels to him. "Help yourself, Gajeel-dono. Enjoy your shower."

"Thanks, cat," he smiled, patting her head before reaching for the towels.

Gajeel's shower was a thoughtful one; as the soothing, hot water rolled down his hair and back, he thought of Kyokuko's hospitality. Reluctant at first, she decided on her own – without any pestering – that she wanted Gajeel to stay past the one month of free lodging he was entitled to for winning that fight. After everything he put her and her guild through, she was the only person to truly accept him into Fairy Tail with open arms apart from Master Makarov.

How could she so easily forgive and forget? Did she harbour a silent grudge against him despite her kindness? Perhaps she was just lulling him into a false sense of security before she took revenge for everything that had happened. He wouldn't even be mad; he deserved it. Any and all of it.

The Iron Dragon Slayer let out a deep sigh as water washed away the soap suds from his body. He combed his hair with his fingers before nervously scratching the back of his neck. Gajeel didn't want that to be the case. He felt at ease in this apartment with Kyokuko and Sonata; the most at ease than he's felt since Metalicana disappeared all those years ago, leaving him with no one to call friend or family.

Maybe it was his rough upbringing with the callous and selfish Iron Dragon that gave Gajeel his unlikable personality. Or perhaps, Gajeel thought, he was like this because he was bitter that he was left all alone. Gajeel was someone who made it through his life by being threatening and cruel. He was violent and unsympathetic towards everyone and everything. He destroyed a guild hall, ambushed wizards and set them on display, beat a defenseless woman half to death, found general pleasure in other's pain…

And Kyokuko, knowing of these traits, still let him live with her. Provided necessities out of her own pocket for him. She was so generous despite it all.

Gajeel's final thought as he turned off the water in the shower was: _how will I ever make it up to her?_

* * *

><p>Lazily sitting up in his bed, where he had rested for a while after finishing his shower, Gajeel finally decided it was time to go downstairs. Or rather, the loud roar from his stomach demanded him to. He had changed into the gray sweatpants and black tank top that Kyokuko had got for him. She was right: it was nice to have some comfortable loungewear for the apartment.<p>

After exiting his room and walking towards the staircase, Gajeel noticed Kyokuko's bedroom door ajar. Curiosity getting the best of him, he peaked in the door to see the empty bed that she had not bothered making and no sign of his new roommate. _I hope she made breakfast_, he thought to himself as he closed the door and continued his way to the main floor of the apartment.

Immediately after walking through the doorway, he was greeted by a happy voice. "Good morning, Gajeel-dono!" Sonata said, flying in front of the Dragon Slayer with a smile. She bowed her head slightly. "Did you have a good night's rest and a relaxing shower?"

Gajeel smiled at her and patted her head, causing her to purr at him affectionately. "Yeah, thanks cat."

"Twenty-eight…" Gajeel could hear Kyokuko's voice quietly counting to herself. Moving his eyes from the Exceed floating in front of him, he saw her at her make-shift gym in the corner of the apartment. She was faced away from him, dressed in tight, black workout shorts and an electric blue razorback tanktop; she had her hands gripped on the suspended horizontal pole as she pulled herself up so her chin would go past the bar. "Twenty-nine… Thirty…" Without wasting time, she swung herself backwards so that her legs went above the bar, and she hanged upside down from her knees. Now facing Gajeel and Sonata, her mouth opened in surprise before she smiled. "Oh! Morning, Gajeel!"

"G'morning," he replied, eyes fixated on her. _I could __**really**__ get used to living here…_

"If you open that first cupboard over there, you'll see all the cereal I've got," she told him as she folded her arms behind her head. "Or, if that's not your cup of tea, I have sliced bread in the bread box and jam in the same cupboard if you want toast." Kyokuko pulled herself up so that her head almost met her knees, doing suspended curl-ups.

"Cereal's fine," Gajeel said, tearing his eyes away from her. In the tight, somewhat revealing clothing, he was able to fully see how fit she was. His earliest assessment of her keeping in shape was confirmed. Gajeel slapped his forehead and immediately disguised the action by rubbing his eye as if sleepy.

By the time he finished selecting his cereal and prepared it, Kyokuko had finished her workout. She landed under the bar with a soft thud and picked up a small towel and wiped down her neck and forehead before she hung around her neck. Gajeel watched her with slight interest as she walked over to the fridge to pull out a small bottle of chocolate milk.

Kyo took the seat opposite to Gajeel and downed the bottle of chocolate milk in a few gulps, letting out a satisfied gasp as she removed the bottle from her lips. After wiping off whatever leftover milk from her mouth with the back of her hand, she smiled at Gajeel. "What say me and you take a jog after breakfast to the guild hall and pick out a mission?"

Gajeel shrugged as he chewed his cereal. "Sure, I could use some work," he replied after he swallowed.

"Sweet!" she exclaimed with a smile. She tossed the empty bottle of milk and it landed in the trashcan on the opposite side of the room. "To be honest, I could really go for a job, too. I've pretty much been in Magnolia while rebuilding the guild hall. I could really use a change of scenery." Looking down into his bowl, Gajeel swallowed hard. Kyo took notice to this and frowned slightly. "Look, Gajeel…" She stood up from the table and stood next to him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she kneeled slightly to get at his seated eyelevel. "I know things are rough at the guild right now. And I don't really know what to say because everyone's resentment to you is kinda justified. You just gotta keep a stiff upper lip, yeah?"

Glancing at her through his peripheral, Gajeel sighed again. "And what about you?" A part of him regretting asking the question, but his mind was plagued by the thoughts he had the whole morning.

He could see Kyo's lips thin slightly before she responded. "I'm not excusing what you've done. Because what you've done to my guild, to my friends, and partly to me are things that can't easily be forgiven." Gajeel winced slightly at that answer. "_But_," she continued. "I have faith that you can redeem yourself to me and to the guild. When I look in your eyes, I can tell you're not a bad guy." Keeping one of her hands on his shoulder, Kyo brought her other hand forward and her fingers cupped Gajeel's chin, turning his face towards hers. Instinctively, he glanced away in shame. "The way you dart your eyes away shows me that you feel regret for what you've done. You are upset with yourself because you _know_ what you've done is wrong. And because you accept that, it shows you _want_ to be redeemed. Sonata seems to trust you. And I don't know… Animals usually have good judgements of character, so I'll put faith in her opinion." Gajeel slowly moved his gaze back up to meet her piercing blues. "A big part of me wants to trust you, Gajeel. I've invited you as my partner and opened up my home to you in order to see you grow. Don't make me feel I've made a mistake."

Gajeel leaned forward slightly as he gazed into Kyokuko's eyes, but she released his chin and straightened her posture. Gajeel craned his head slightly to follow her with his eyes as she walked towards to kitchen counter. _I won't let you down,_ he thought to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>I wanted to make this chapter a bit longer to include the jog, but I feel it ended on a nice note, so I'll save it for later.<strong>

**As you can see, I'm super into Gajeel being a little sweetie pie, because I genuinely think he's the biggest, sweetest dorky baby. I'm focusing a lot on his attraction to Kyokuko, but as we all know, Kyo finds him exceedingly attractive as well. So more to come! (Hopefully with not such a long wait…)**

**Musical inspiration:**

**Song Kyo listened to while cooking: **_**Let's Dance**_

**Song while eating: **_**Beyond The Sea**_

**Metal song after dinner: **_**Palms Read**_

**As usual, music playlist link is in my profile.**

**All your follows and favourites are appreciated, but I also really enjoy reading all your lovely reviews! Fills my heart with fluffy joy.**


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